Tokyo Mew Mew: Love's Legend Rewritten
by andichosefreedom
Summary: At six years old, Amaya watched her life crumble before her. At eight years old, she watched the Shirogane's lives crumble before her. Now all she wishes for is a semi-normal life with her sister. She thought that she could have that, until her past decides to catch up with her. Now Amaya must fight the forces of evil - and face the monster who tore her life away from her.
1. Jello

Amaya stared longingly out the window at the fluffy white flakes that were coating the streets with a powdered-sugar glaze. The light of the moon shone brightly against the tiny snowflake crystals, illuminating the night sky with a silver hue. She'd give anything to play in it, but her mother's words were absolute: no playing outside in the dark.

Still, that would not stop her from at least wanting to. She let out an audible sigh and puffed her little cheek out, leaning it against the cool glass. "I wish it were tomorrow," she whined. "Then I could go outside and play."

A lower feminine voice chuckled behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see her mother sitting on a suede brown armchair with a woolen blanket draped over her knees. "Now, now, Amaya. You're getting your yucky face marks all over the windows. You'll get to play outside with your sister soon enough."

Amaya huffed stubbornly. "I don't wanna play with Mamaya!" she protested. She stamped her little foot on the carpeted floor beneath her. "She always ruins my snowman and then cries when she gets too cold!"

The younger girl looked up from her box of crayons and piles of coloring books on the floor to glare at her older sister. "I do not! Mommy!" she wailed, tears in her eyes.

Their mother smiled down at both of them and sighed, shaking her head from side to side the way all mothers did from time to time. "Both of you stop it. You're sisters. You're supposed to look out for each other. Amaya, your little sister looks up to you a lot. Be the big sister she needs you to be, okay? For Mommy."

Amaya looked down at her younger sister, a smaller, frailer duplicate of herself with dark brown eyes instead of her mis-matched brown and blue. The little girl was staring up at her with crystal-like beads in the corners of her eyes. Amaya groaned and looked away stubbornly. "Fine."

A much deeper voice laughed from the armchair across from her mother. A burly man with dark brown hair and a thick moustache was lounging there, basking in the heat of the roaring fireplace before them. It was a presence Amaya was wary of; her father rarely decided to make an appearance in familial situations.

Part of Amaya was afraid of her father's looming image. She wasn't sure what it was he did, but he was almost always in the basement. Her mother told her that it was where her father did all of his work, and to never go down there because some of the things there could be dangerous. Sometimes Amaya lay awake in bed at night, wondering what horrible things could be in her basement. The thoughts made her shiver and cower under her blankets. Even the maid wasn't allowed down there.

Whatever it was that he did, a lot of people liked him for it. Her mother always said that it was because of her father that they got to live in a big house on a pretty street with lots of things that the kids at her school didn't have. She even got to go to better schools than some of the other kids on her street. Amaya hardly ever even had to clean her room because a maid did all of that for her!

"Mommy, can I stay up until Amaya has to go to bed?" Mamaya asked, looking up at her mother.

She shook her head. "No, dear. You need to get your proper rest or else you won't be able to wake up on time for Christmas tomorrow. Don't you want Santa to bring you all the things you asked him for?" she said.

Mamaya made a devastated face. "Yes . . ."

She smiled. "Then you need to be fast asleep so that he can come. Gather your coloring and I'll take you to bed, okay?

Mamaya slowly collected her crayons and books and obediently followed as her mother stood from her chair and draped her blanket over the back. She looked to the armchair opposite her. "I'll be back after I've tucked in Mamaya," she announced. The man nodded and watched his wife and daughter turn the corner down the hall.

Amaya stood silently at the window. She wasn't sure what to do; she'd never been alone with her father before. She turned and began staring out the window again, fidgeting nervously. She hoped her mother would return quickly.

"Amaya?"

She jumped. "Y-y-yes?" she stammered. Her little heart pounded in her little chest. Was she in trouble? Had she done something wrong? Sometimes her mother used her name in a certain tone when she was about to get scolded. Was he about to do the same?

"Do you like this house and this life that you live?" the man asked.

Amaya stared at her father's old face. His hair was slightly greying but against the glow of the fire, she could hardly tell. He simply looked tired. "Um, yes Daddy. How come?"

He looked at her, and suddenly she felt like running away. The adrenaline pumped in her veins. "Would you fight to keep it this way? Would you protect your mother and sister and everyone else if you could?" he asked.

Amaya frowned. She took a tiny step back. She was almost sure that he was going to come at her like one of those scary men in the detective shows her mother watched. "Um, I don't understand. I'm scared," she admitted.

The man smiled, and for a moment her fears were at ease. "That's okay. You'll understand one day. You don't need to be scared," he said gently. At that moment, she believed him. She felt her churning stomach relax a little and her heart began to slow.

And then it happened.

She heard an ear-piercing sound like an enormous piece of glass shattering against the floor, followed by her mother's sharp scream. Then before she knew it, a high-pitched blaring sound erupted from the ceilings: the fire alarm.

Amaya screamed. She collapsed onto the floor on her knees, head in her heads as she cried. She was terrified. Had her father done something? What was going on? Was her mother okay? Was her sister okay? Would _she_ be okay?

She looked up and noticed that her father had moved. He was running toward her and kneeling to the floor in front of her. He put his hands on her tiny shoulders and shook her insistently. "Amaya, get up! We need to find your mother and sister and get out of here."

She nodded. She had no choice: she had to trust her father. Together, they ran down the hall, Amaya checking over her shoulder every so often to make sure no one was following them from behind. Her father called out but no one answered. All around them, a low rumbling roared in their ears and the ground beneath their feet shook.

"Amaya!"

She looked up. That had been her sister's voice. Her heart fluttered. "Mamaya! Where are you?!"

"Help me, Amaya! I'm scared!"

Amaya tugged her father's hand toward her as she ran forward down the hall. She peered into the first door to her right. She couldn't see much. With the rumbling and the ground shaking, most of the lights had gone out. "Mamaya?"

She saw a shadow. It was small enough to be her sister. She squinted her eyes to try to get a better look, but all she really saw was the outline of a small figure. "Mamaya, are you in there?" she asked, voice shaking. Part of her wondered, what if it wasn't Mamaya? "There's no such thing as ghosts, there's no such thing as ghosts, there's no such thing as ghosts, there's no such thing as-"

The shadow moved again, and Amaya noticed it was getting bigger. She stepped away from the door and whined loudly. It was too big to be her sister now. She was backed up against the wall and slumped down to the floor, but aside from that she was too paralysed to move. She covered her face with her hands and screamed. "Mommy!"

A hand touched her shoulder. "Amaya!"

She jumped so far and screamed so loud, she almost hurt herself. The hand had been Mamaya's. She looked from her sister, to the doorway into the room she'd been peering in and grabbed her younger sister's hand. "We need to get out of here! Where's Mommy?"

Mamaya shook her head. "I don't know! Where's Daddy?"

Amaya looked around her. He'd been there a few moments ago, hadn't he? "I don't know," she replied. "Let's go. Maybe they're outside waiting for us!"

Amaya took her sister's hand and turned to run for the front door. She was about to start running when suddenly something wrapped around her ankle and pulled, hard. She lost her momentum and was swiftly met with the rising ground as she slammed into it. She groaned and looked behind her.

She screamed. She wasn't sure what she was looking at, but it was the scariest thing her six-year-old eyes had ever seen. It had blue, scaly skin like a snake and lizard-like legs with sharp talons. Its eyes were dark, thin slits, its mouth a jagged maw of razor-sharp teeth. It had its long tail-like torso wrapped around her ankle and was beginning to move in for the kill.

"Amaya!" her little sister screamed out. "No!"

Amaya's heart pounded. Her skin crawled. Tears streaked down her ashen face. _Would you protect your mother and sister and everyone else if you could? _

Her father's words echoed through her mind. She looked up at her little sister's terrified face. Tears were streaming down her face, probably just like her. She was screaming and crying and wailing, terrified of the sight she saw but too paralysed to escape it. Amaya's mind was made up. She had to protect her sister. She looked back at the monster moving in toward her, pulled back her free leg and kicked out hard. Her foot connected with a scaly face, sending the creature slightly aback. Amaya took the opportunity to scramble to her feet, grab her sister's hand and begin running down the hall.

When they finally made it to their front lawn, police and fire fighters were already there. They were barking orders at each other and running into the building. Amaya was relieved. They were saved. They got out alive!

That was the last thing she remembered of that night.

When she had come to, Amaya was in a hospital bed. Her sister was in the bed next to hers in the same clothes she'd been in before she passed out, sleeping soundly. She looked around her. She was in a small room with not much to look at. There was a whiteboard on the wall across from her that said a doctor's name on it. Next to her was a small night stand with a tiny lamp on it. It was on and the curtains were drawn, so Amaya guessed it was night time. Her parent were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they were using the bathroom or talking to a doctor.

She opened her mouth to speak, but it was dry and pasty. She needed something to drink. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and reached for the red cup on her night stand with a long bent straw sticking out, sucking from it greedily.

"I see you're awake, dear. Are you able to tell me your name?"

She looked up from her cup. A short, old woman with short grey hair was speaking to her. "Amaya," she croaked, voice still a little weak.

The woman nodded. "That's what your sister said," she said, gesturing toward the younger girl still passed out in the other bed. "Can you tell me your last name? Your sister wasn't sure how to spell it. I need it for my paperwork."

"N-i-k-i-n-i," Amaya replied. She'd practised that many times with her mother and teachers. "Where are my mom and dad?"

The woman gave her a small smile. "Your doctor is going to be in here soon. She'll explain everything to you, okay?" Without even waiting for her response, the old woman bowed politely and left the room, shutting it behind her.

Amaya sat up and propped her pillows against the plastic headboard of her bed. She leaned back on them and settled in, staring up at the ceiling. She just wanted to go home with her parents and forget that this had happened. Where were her mother and father? Why weren't they here to tell her that everything was okay? She sighed.

The doorknob twisted with a click and the door opened as a young, tall woman with blonde hair and blue eyes walked into the room, a clipboard in one hand and the other deep in the pocket of her long white coat. She stood at the foot of Amaya's bed and smiled. "Good evening, Miss Nikini. I'm the doctor who's been taking care of you these last few days. My name is Matsumiya."

Amaya frowned. "Few days?"

The young woman nodded. "Yes. It's been three days since your accident back at your house. Do you remember the accident?" she asked gently.

Amaya felt tears well up in her eyes, but she pushed them back down. She nodded silently, wiping furiously at her eyes. She didn't want to think about it, or the scary monster that she would probably always see every time she shut her eyes. She just wanted to move on.

The woman walked up to the side of her bed and perched herself on the edge of it, right next to Amaya's legs. "You're safe now," she said, smiling. "Whatever happened in that house will never happen to you again." She looked toward the other bed where Mamaya was sleeping and grinned down at Amaya again. "I heard you were very brave. You saved your sister. She wasn't even hurt."

Amaya flashed a tiny smile. She was glad her sister was okay, but now she wanted to know about her parents. "Where are my mommy and daddy?" she asked, voice small.

Matsumiya gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Amaya. Your mother and father . . . They never made it out of the house."

Visions of the scaly blue creature capturing her mother and father and eating them limb from limb danced through Amaya's mind. A flood of terror raced through her. "You mean . . ." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "They got caught?"

Matsumiya looked as if she wanted to ask questions, but she didn't. Instead she let out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry, Amaya. Your parents are gone. They're not coming back. I know this must be very hard for you. Me and all the other doctors here are going to make sure that you and your sister are okay. Do you have any aunts or uncles whose names you remember?"

Amaya shook her head. Her parents were not close with their family. Holiday get-togethers were always fancy dinner parties for their friends and friends of their friends. She didn't even know if she had any cousins.

Matsumiya frowned and thought for a moment. "Any close family friends?" she asked.

Amaya thought. There was one name she remembered, but she was unsure of how close her parents were to them. All she knew was that they'd come to every function her parents had held, and they seemed to always be talking to them. Plus, they had a son, and Amaya played with him from time to time. She nodded. "Sh-Shirogane."

The young woman nodded. "Shirogane? Okay. Maybe they can help you out. For now, you rest. Let me or a nurse know if you need anything, okay?"

She nodded, tears in her eyes.

The doctor patted her leg gently and stood. She stayed there for a moment, not saying anything, then she turned and walked around the bed, opened the door to the hallway and left. She shut it behind her, leaving Amaya alone with her thoughts and her tears.

The next few days were blurry at best for Amaya. Her six-year-old mind could hardly understand the questions she was being asked or the medicine she was being given. All she knew was that she was scared. Terrified. She woke every night to her own screaming and thrashing. Doctors gave her things to relax but they rarely worked. Only did she start to relax when Mamaya climbed into her bed next to her and curled up against her side.

Soon she began to relax. The nightmares never ceased, but she learned to deal with them. She woke with tears in her eyes and a scream ready to escape her lips, but she was almost always able to swallow it down. It had been almost two weeks since the accident at her house. Doctor Matsumiya was beginning to tell her that things were looking up: Mr Shirogane and his wife had agreed to allow her to stay with him until they found a family member who would be willing to take them in.

Part of Amaya rejoiced at the thought that she would be leaving the confines of the hospital and its medical prison. Another part clung to the safety it promised.

But, sure enough, a few days later a family of three with blonde hair and blue eyes and welcoming smiles entered Amaya's hospital room. Mr Shirogane was quiet for the most part, but he stayed supportive. Mrs Shirogane immediately took the leading role. As she walked in, her eyes immediately swept over Amaya and her sister's sleeping figure at her side. She sat on the edge of the bed the same way that Doctor Matsumiya liked to and leaned in toward Amaya, making her swallow the nervous lump in her throat.

The woman smiled. "Oh dear, you look exhausted. That won't do. How would you like to have a nice warm bath, hmm? I've bought you and your sister lots of nice clothes, so you never have to wear these hospital clothes again. And I bet you're tired of the yucky hospital food, aren't you?"

Amaya nodded. She wasn't sure what else to say. She had gotten so used to only nodding or shaking her head for the last few days in response to her doctor's questions. Could she even open her mouth and talk like she used to? All she knew was that a bath and real food sounded like the greatest gift she could have ever received. She remembered a time when she hated taking baths. She would never think like that again.

Mrs Shirogane looked up at her husband. "Dear, why don't you go on and sign the release papers so we can get these girls home? Ryou," she said, finally addressing the young boy standing near the door, "come here and help Amaya gather her things."

Amaya watched as the boy nodded and began walking toward her bed. He went to the night stand and began collecting the things he saw there: a notebook of things a doctor had written about Amaya's medicine, a bracelet Amaya had been wearing on night of the accident and a small, unopened cup of Jello. He looked down at it and held it out to Amaya. "The Jello is the best part," he said.

Amaya shook her head.

Ryou frowned, his crystalline blue eyes looking at her quizzically. "You need to eat to be strong. That's what my mom says."

She shook her head again. She opened her mouth, but before she could make a sound, Ryou was pushing the Jello into her hands. She pushed it back into his hands. " . . . can't," she croaked.

"How come?" he asked.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She thought back to the day where she ate strawberry-flavoured pudding and had to be rushed to the hospital. Her mother had told her to never eat anything with strawberries in it, and to be very careful. Mamaya hadn't been born yet, but Amaya remembered ever since. Her mother was gone now, but she would still keep her promise. "I'm allergic to strawberries," she said, tears streaming down her face.

Ryou looked up at his mother with a panicked look. "Did I do something bad?!" he cried.

Mrs Shirogane shook her head and wrapped her arms around Amaya as her little body shook. "No, honey. She's just grieving."


	2. Ms Rosbe

**A/N: This is a rewritten version of The Tokyo Mew Mew Saga: Love's Legend. It follows the original Tokyo Mew Mew origin story with some added detail, as well as a few minor details in its English version Mew Mew Power. **

*Two Years Later*

"Tag, you're it!"

Ryou looked up from the book he had been reading and frowned. It was a sunny summer day and the Shirogane/Nikini family were enjoying the outdoors in the grassy haven of their backyard getaway. Mrs Shirogane had set up a picnic and was slicing up some watermelon to share. Mamaya was greedily popping food into her mouth. Mr Shirogane was too busy indoors with his work, but Amaya didn't mind. Maybe it was normal for fathers to always be working inside. Ryou, however, had immediately planted himself down at the base of a tall Japanese maple tree and begun reading a thick volume of some book Amaya couldn't understand. She was not having that.

"I don't want to play. I'm too busy," he protested.

Amaya pouted. "Oh come on, Ryou! Don't be a big boring baby! That book doesn't look like any fun!"

He looked back down at his book and continued reading, eyes moving side to side as he scanned each line. Ever since Amaya had moved in, and maybe even before that, Ryou had taken it upon himself to always be studying. When she asked, he always said, "I'm studying to take on my father's research one day."

Amaya wasn't sure what it was his father studied but it seemed complicated. "Come play with me! Studying in the summer is boring!"

Ryou smirked. "My intention isn't to have a good time," he retorted.

She frowned. "What does that mean?"

Ryou looked up at her and scoffed. "Just leave me alone, okay? Go play with Mamaya or something."

Amaya stuck out her cheeks and pouted. She stamped her foot on the ground. "Fine! But you know what? Don't come crying to me when you have no friends cuz all you wanna do is be a boring old man!" she shouted.

That day she'd stomped away and reverted to playing with Mamaya like nothing had happened. But the next day, she returned home from school and rounded the corner to find Mrs Shirogane placing Band-Aids over Ryou's face and legs. She hurriedly raced back behind the corner before they'd seen her to listen in to their conversation.

"Who did this to you, Ryou?" Mrs Shirogane's worried voice asked.

Ryou said nothing.

"Was it those boys in the grade above you?" she asked.

Again, he said nothing.

Amaya immediately regretted the words she'd said that day under the maple tree. If he was being bullied, maybe Ryou really didn't have many friends. They went to the same school, but he was two grades above her - they hardly saw each other on the playground. For all she knew, he was getting bullied right in front of her.

_Would you protect your mother and sister and everyone else if you could?_

The next day, Amaya came home from school with bruises and cuts covering her legs, arms and face. She walked into the living room where Mrs Shirogane sat sewing the buttons on a white blouse for her husband. "I'm home," she said, setting her backpack down on the floor next to her.

"Welcome home, dear," Mrs Shirogane said, glancing over her shoulder. She smiled at her and turned back to the shirt in her hands before freezing and doing a quick double-take. "Amaya! What in the world happened to you?! Who did this to you?!"

Amaya looked down at herself. She saw bruises and scrapes and a few cuts on her knees and elbows where she was beginning to bleed. She looked back up at Mrs Shirogane and shrugged. "I hit one of them. Then they hit me back, so I kept hitting them. Then they pushed me and started hitting me again."

Mrs Shirogane stood from her chair and knelt to Amaya. "You got into a fight?! How many were there? Amaya, you should know better than to hit people," she scolded.

Amaya flinched when she touched a sore spot on her forehead. "There were five of them."

She pulled a First Aid Kit from the table beside her chair and set it down on the floor next to her. She took out a few things like cotton balls and a little bottle of clear liquid and began applying it to her forehead. "Amaya, you can't do this again. It's not good for a lady to pick fights. Look at your school uniform: it's all dirty and torn."

Amaya huffed. "They started it! They were picking on Ryou so I told them to go away but then one of them hit me, so I hit him back!"

Mrs Shirogane frowned and looked at Amaya. "You mean, you stood up to the boys that were picking on Ryou?"

Amaya nodded. "My daddy told me a long time ago to protect people whenever I can! I said something mean to Ryou and told him he had no friends. I didn't mean it . . . But I can protect him if he can't do it himself! Those boys came out a lot worse than me! I won!"

The blonde woman smiled and gave her a tight hug. "That's very sweet of you, and I'm glad that you would protect my son like that, Amaya. But you have to promise me, no more fighting with the kids at your school. Promise?"

Amaya sighed. "Okay . . ."

After she was done getting bandaged up, Amaya went to her room. It was a lot like her old room, but still different in a way. It was large and spacious, and sometimes it made her feel like she lived in a house all by itself. There were glass doors leading to a balcony outside, and even a bathtub built in on one corner of the room. Her old room never had that.

The floors were marble. Because of it, it was easy to hear when people were walking on it. So when she heard footsteps that weren't hers, she turned quickly toward the door, heart pounding. She was half-expecting to see a monster there. Instead, it was Ryou. She took a breath and tried to relax.

"You didn't have to do that, stupid," Ryou muttered.

Amaya frowned. "Do what?"

His face went a little pink. "You know, pick a fight with those guys. I could have handled it."

She smiled. "I know. But I wanted to."

He scoffed. "You're weird," he muttered. "Thanks."

She grinned and watched as he turned and left.

So they continued on. Amaya and Ryou gradually became closer. They were far from becoming the best of friends, but Ryou stopped reading to play with her once in a while and Amaya didn't bother him as often as she did. The boys at their school still tormented them, but they had learned their lesson not to pick a fight with Amaya. All in all, things were going well. Amaya was happy. She was beginning to feel like a normal girl again.

But then, one day, Amaya came home late. She'd gone to her friend's house after school and was waiting for her driver to pick her up. Usually her driver was right on time. Mrs Shirogane got worried when Amaya was a few minutes late. But that day, he never showed up. The parents of her friend had offered to drive her home, which she gladly accepted. But as they were driving up the parkway that led to her garage, something bright caught her eye. The car rounded a corner and then began to slow. That was when Amaya saw it.

The entire house was up in flames. For a moment, Amaya was frozen. Then the images of the scaly monster crossed her vision. Her mind's first thought was of her parents. Then Mamaya. She screamed. "No! Mamaya! Ryou!" she shouted. She tore her seatbelt off and pushed the car door open, jumping out and rolling to her feet. She ran up the driveway toward a familiar red Mercedes that was parked up near the door. Two figures stood there, but she was too far to see. One was very tall, the other her height.

As she got closer, she saw the familar blond hair. "Ryou!" she shouted.

She saw him turn to face her. Tears were in his eyes. "My mom and dad . . ."

Her first concern was her sister. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Was my sister in there? Tell me Mamaya is safe!"

His eyes went wide. "Mamaya . . ."

She turned and darted toward the house without another thought. She heard voices shouting after her, but she ignored them. She'd already lost her mother and father. She was not going to lose Mamaya too. Memories of her in the hospital, clinging to her little sister for safety from her own nightmares filled her head. She'd never known until now how much she needed her.

The flames crackled around her and roared in her ears. She'd never known how loud fire could be until now. In school, they taught you to stay low to the ground. Amaya got down on her hands and knees and began crawling around. "Mamaya!" she shouted. "Mamaya, can you hear me?!"

She crawled down what used to be the front hall. She peered into each doorway as she passed them but they were too full of flames for her to see any of them. Sweat beaded her ashen forehead. She was too afraid to even feel her fear. "Mamaya! Answer me!" she shouted again.

"Amaya? Is that you?"

She perked up. That was her sister's voice. "Mamaya! Where are you?"

Her voice was getting quieter. "Over here . . ."

She peered into a doorway on her left. Some tall pieces of wood had fallen over and had landed in a pile on the floor. At the base of the pile, Amaya saw a familiar streak of mahogany red hair. "Mamaya!" she screamed. She ran over, forgetting to stay low to the ground, and pulled off the pieces she could reach. Mamaya had been caught between a few pieces that had fallen over. Luckily it didn't look like any of them were cutting through her, but she was wedged too tight between them to move. Her entire midsection was stuck.

Mamaya looked up at her sister, blood trickling down her face from a cut she'd received on her forehead. "Amaya, I'm scared," she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Amaya grabbed her sister's hand and forced her tears back.

"Why does this keep happening to us?" she whimpered.

Amaya shook her head. "I don't know," she murmured. "But I won't leave you. As long as we're together, we'll be okay."

Mamaya folded her free arm against the floor and buried her face into it, her sobbing muffled by the roar of the flames around them. Amaya clutched her hand tight to her chest and leaned over her, her silent battle against the tears in her eyes lost. She wondered if they'd see her mother and father again, or if they would see Mr and Mrs Shirogane. She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling they were gone too. She felt sorry for Ryou. It wasn't going to be easy for him to move on. She knew he loved his mother a lot.

But it was too late now. Amaya wasn't going to make it out of here to ever know. They were going to die.

"Over here! There are some kids over here!"

Amaya looked up. Something was coming toward them. She tensed. She saw a scary face and freaky eyes. Was she going to get eaten by monsters or would the fire be the cause of her death? She squeezed Mamaya's hands in hers so tightly, Mamaya let out a yelp.

But it wasn't a group of monsters coming toward her. It was a crew of fire fighters.

A man knelt to Amaya and began reaching to pick her up. She screamed and struggled out of his grip. "No! Save my sister first!" she exclaimed.

The man looked down through his oxygen mask at the little girl sandwiched between the planks of wood. He probably hadn't even seen her there. He looked over his shoulder and started barking at the others to help him out. Two others ran over and helped him lift the planks that had fallen over Mamaya's body. When she finally came loose she scrambled into her big sister's arms.

"We've got to get out of here," the man said. He grabbed Amaya and lifted her into his arms. Another man did the same with Mamaya. As they began to run, a high-pitched laugh rung through the fiery halls.

The fresh air hit Amaya's lungs like a freight train. She coughed against the unnatural change in oxygen levels and looked back over the fire fighter's shoulder. The house was beginning to fall. Planks of wood and bricks crumbled to the ground. It seemed they had gotten out of there right in the nick of time.

The laughing rung through her ears again. She looked up toward the sky. There, sure enough, was her worst nightmare. Its scales were bluer than before, and its body had grown. It must have only been a baby the first time it had attacked her, because now it seemed to be even scarier. Its purple mane had grown longer and wilder, its talons were sharper and its teeth were thicker. It had long, powerful-looking wings that spanned almost as wide as the house. Her heart pounded. She was too terrified to scream.

The man holding her turned around and let out a surprised yelp. "What the hell is that?!" he shouted.

The monster's laugh finally ceased, but only so that it could flap its long wings and disappear into the shadows of the night.

Once again, Amaya passed out.

Again, Amaya came to in a hospital bed, although this was not the same one. She was told that she had been asleep for almost two days, and that the doctors had had to clear her lungs out to make sure they hadn't gotten debris or toxins in them from the fire. Ryou was okay. Mamaya had needed stitches, but aside from that she was also okay. They were alive.

They had put both she and her sister in the same hospital room. Mamaya's bed was to her right. Ryou was stationed at an empty bed to her left. A tall man with long, dark brown hair in a ponytail was almost always at his side taking care of him, asking him if he was all right.

Amaya looked at her sister's sleeping form. With tears in her eyes, she finally realized it: they were all each other had.

Ryou stood. "I'm going to the cafeteria. Want anything?"

Amaya shook her head. "I'm fine."

Ryou nodded and made way for the door, the brunet man following behind. "Okay, see you later."

She nodded back. "Yeah. Bye," she murmured.

He gave her a quizzical look, but left anyway, shutting the door behind them.

Amaya sat up. She pulled the oxygen tube from her nose and looked down at the IV resting in her wrist. She gulped. She'd seen this in movies, but she had always looked away. Taking a deep breath, she slowly slid the needle out of her arm. When it was finally out, she carefully placed it on the table next to her bed. She grabbed a Band-Aid from the table and slapped it over the IV hole.

She had to move fast. She saw a nurse put her and Mamaya's clothes in the closet near the window last time. She ran to it and pulled it open. Sure enough, there they were, all clean and folded up neatly. She pulled her hospital gown off and stepped into her clothes, then grabbed Mamaya's things and went to her bed. She pulled her sister's oxygen tube and IV out and shook her awake. "Mamaya. Mamaya, wake up!"

The four-year-old groaned and slowly fluttered her eyes open. "Sleepy," she murmured.

Amaya shook her again. "I know, I know. But wake up, okay? We need to get out of here."

She opened her eyes and looked up at her big sister. "Get out of here?" she asked.

Amaya nodded. "Look, I don't know why, but whatever that thing was, it keeps following us. We can't stay here, or else the people that they dump us with will be put in danger too. I don't want more people to die because of us. Do you?"

Mamaya shook her head rapidly.

"Good," Amaya said. "Then we need to run away. Get dressed."

She obediently did as was told. When she was done, she climbed out of her bed and looked at the door. "How do we get out with no one seeing us?" she asked.

Amaya took her hand. "Just stay quiet and keep your head down."

She nodded and bowed her head. Amaya opened the door and peered out. The reception desk was just a little bit down the hall. Thankfully, the exit was in the opposite direction. All they needed to do was get through the doors to the hallway and then they would be home free. She tugged her sister along and began walking down the hall, not too quickly but not too slowly.

"How are the Nikini sisters?"

Amaya's head shot up. She glanced over her shoulder but no one was talking to her. She slowly looked around her. A woman down the hall behind them was speaking with Doctor Matsumiya. Amaya gulped. That wasn't good. They would probably be going in to check on them. She squeezed Mamaya's hand. "Run," she whispered.

Mamaya needed not be told twice. They ran down the hall until they reached the doors and Amaya threw them open. Then they continued running down another hall that passed the cafeteria. Amaya glanced in through the glass windows as they ran and for a moment her heart stopped as her eyes met Ryou's. He'd been looking out the window to see who was running past them. She continued running, squeezing her eyes shut and praying that he told no one.

When they finally reached the exit, Mamaya slowed to a stop and bent over, panting tiredly. "I'm pooped!" she wailed.

Amaya grabbed her. "We can't stop, they'll find us. We need to keep running!"

Mamaya looked up at her. "But!"

Amaya knelt with her back toward her. "Hop on then. But hold on tight," she said.

Mamaya nodded and hopped up onto her sister's back. As soon as she was securely clinging to her, Amaya began running again. She wasn't sure where she was going or how far it was, all she knew was the further she went the better.

An hour later, Amaya was bent over herself, panting so hard she felt like a dog. Her throat burned and her chest ached. Every muscle in her body cried out. The pavement under her hands and knees had never looked so inviting. It also wasn't helpful that it was a heated day in July. The fabric of her uniform blouse clung to her and kept her body overheated.

Mamaya had gone in to the little shop they had stopped in front of to ask a waiter for a glass of water. She finally returned from inside and handed the glass to her sister. Amaya took it and drunk from it greedily. Some of it trickled from the corners of her mouth but she didn't care. She welcomed the cool liquid as it slid down her neck.

When she finished, she wiped her mouth and set the glass back down on the ground. She stood and sighed. Then she knelt to her sister again. Mamaya hopped onto her back and propped herself up.

They had gotten far enough that Amaya no longer needed to run. Still, they had reached central Tokyo and the streets were too busy and dangerous to allow Mamaya to walk freely on her own. Amaya couldn't risk losing her in the crowded roads. She had no idea where they were. She simply went forward.

As she continued walking, she took a turn down a street that was less crowded. There was a park with a large fountain there. Lots of kids and adults were there, playing and walking and sitting on benches. She smiled. It looked simple and happy. She wished she could go and play, but she was much too tired and it would be getting dark in a few hours. She had to find a place for them to stay the night.

Further down the street, she passed a school. It was big, but not as big as her old school. Amaya's school was a private school, mostly for those who had the parents who could afford it. The sign on the front of this school read "Daikan Junior High School."

She kept walking. Further down the street was another school, this one reading "Okumura Daifuzuku Junior High School." She continued past it and frowned as she thought. There sure were a lot of schools on this street.

She sighed. She was getting tired. The afternoon heat was cooling to a sweet evening breeze. The sun was beginning to set. As if on cue, her stomach began to rumble. She couldn't remember the last meal she'd eaten. She felt Mamaya shiver against her back. "Amaya, I'm hungry," she whined.

Amaya nodded. "I know. Just hold on, okay? I'll figure something out."

They kept walking until they came to a street full of ramen stands. Her mouth watered. The smell of miso filled her taste buds. She propped Mamaya up and stepped in front of a stand with colourful lights and big signs written in big letters. A man and a woman were standing behind the tables. "Hello!" the man said cheerfully. "Would you like some miso ramen? It's world famous!"

Amaya's stomach grumbled in response. Her eyes were heavy with tears. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I . . . I don't have any money."

The woman frowned and leaned in toward them. "Are you lost, little girl?"

She nodded.

The man flashed them a cheerful smile. "That's okay! This one can be on the house! Just be sure to come back for more, okay?"

The sisters perked up simultaneously. They climbed up onto the stools and nodded. "Thank you!"

The man set a bowl in front of each of them. Amaya practically drooled. She and Mamaya dug in, hardly even breathing between gulps.

The man smiled at them both and then turned to look up at the TV above them. He leaned his elbows on the table as his wife reached up to turn the volume louder. Amaya looked up as she slurped at her noodles. A man was on the TV with a bunch of pictures behind him. She realized this must have been the news. When he wasn't studying, her father used to always watch the news. Amaya had always found it boring.

But the images on the screen behind him seemed familiar.

"Breaking News," the man said, "it has been reported that today at 7:30pm, or right around that time, the Shirogane mansion burned down. The owners of the estate, Dr and Mrs Shirogane, unfortunately did not make it out alive, however their son is now in the care of Fujioto Hospital and, to our knowledge, is alive. Two young girls who were also under the care of Dr Shirogane and his wife have also made it alive, however it is reported that they are now missing. If you see little Amaya and Mamaya Nikini, please do not hesitate to report to your local police station. Here are their photos."

Amaya's heart dropped. She was in trouble now.

The man looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Guess that explains why the two of you are running around with no parents with ya," he chuckled.

Amaya gulped. She was no longer interested in the ramen. Heart pounding, scrambled off her stool and grabbed her sister, pulling her down with her. "Th-th-thanks again, mister!" she wailed, and with that, they sprinted away. She could vaguely hear him shouting after them, but she ignored his calls. She just ran.

They continued running until they came to a deserted alleyway. There, Amaya let go of Mamaya's hand and slumped to the ground to catch her breath. Mamaya sat next to her and shivered. The air was beginning to cool way too much now.

Tears of frustration stained her cheeks. She dug her fingers into the ground. "Geez! What do I do now?!" she exclaimed. "Everyone in the city will have seen those pictures. How are we not going to get caught now?!"

If only she could change her appearance somehow. Amaya was beginning to think she shouldn't have dragged her sister away. She looked down at the younger girl. She was shivering and practically falling asleep, her head drooping down toward Amaya's shoulder. She sighed.

"Heeeeeey! Look at what I found! Two little lost girls."

Amaya's eyes went wide. She looked up from her sister and toward the voice she'd just heard. A shadow moved further down the alley. She gulped and grabbed her sister's hand, preparing to run. Was the monster back? Was it getting ready to finish its job?

But instead of a monster, a boy stepped out from the shadows. Three boys. They were much older than Amaya, with cigarettes between their teeth and their hands shoved deep into the pockets of their torn varsity jackets. Amaya cringed away, pushing Mamaya's half-conscious form behind her back.

One of the boys, a tall guy with greasy black hair, plucked the cigarette from his mouth and leaned in toward Amaya, kneeling down on his knees. He blew out, the smoke engulfing Amaya's face. "What are you doing all alone in a dark, scary alley little girl? Didn't your parents ever tell you that it's very dangerous to be out in the dark all alone? You could get kidnapped."

One of the other boys behind him fidgeted nervously. "Yo man, let's just leave them alone. They're just kids."

The dark-haired leader glared back at him. "They're not _just _kids, you moron! These are the kids from the mansion outside of town. The one owned by that rich family. The news has reports all over the place for them. Think of the money we could get if we held them for ransom!"

"Do you know how much trouble we would get in for that? We could go to jail!"

Amaya shook her sister but she was too deep in sleep to wake up. She groaned. She had to get them out of there, but she couldn't lift Mamaya when she was sleeping. She had to do something, but what? These boys were planning anything but rescue.

"Excuse me."

One by one, everyone gasped. Amaya looked up and over her shoulder. A woman stood behind them in the light of the alley's opening. She walked up to them and smiled. "I'm sorry, it seems some of my children escaped during recess. I believe you have them confused for someone else. Although, you really shouldn't be planning on kidnapping young girls," the woman said, stepping up in front of Amaya.

The boys backed up and looked at the woman. "Tch," the leader scoffed. "Whatever. Let's go, guys."

They begun their retreat.

The woman turned and knelt to the two girls. She smiled at Amaya and lifted a finger, wiping away a tear on her cheek. "Don't cry," she said gently. "I'm going to take you somewhere you won't have to worry about people like that. How would you like to sleep somewhere safe?"

Amaya looked at the woman warily. She wanted to trust this woman, but what if she took her back to the hospital? Did she know who they were?

The woman smiled. "My name is Ms Rosbe. I run a children's shelter for lost and homeless kids. It's a lot like a daycare, except not just during the day. I promise I won't take you back to the place you ran from. I won't even tell anyone you're with me if you don't want me to. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I left two children out on the street. Will you come with me?" she asked.

Amaya watched the woman carefully. She had short brown hair that was longer in the front, and cheerful looking blue eyes. Perhaps she could be trusted. Amaya wanted to believe she could. Either way, it seemed she did not have much of a choice. Slowly, she nodded. "Okay."

Ms Rosbe picked up Mamaya's sleeping figure and took Amaya's hand to help her up. "You're safe now," she said. "I promise."

**A/N: Ms Rosbe is Kiki's sister's teacher in Mew Mew Power. She has no name in the Japanese version, so I'm just sticking with the English name. Also, in Mew Mew Power, Corina tells Zoey that Kiki lives in a shelter. This will also be canon in this story. Aside from that, so far, everything is from the canon Tokyo Mew Mew storyline.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Welcome, to Cafe Mew Mew!

**A/N: In Mew Mew Power, "Little Sprouts" is the name of the daycare that Kiki's little sister goes to. This is where Ms Rosbe works. In this story, Little Sprouts is a children's shelter. (Forgive me for the confusion, 4kids set me up for error when they kept changing their character development lol)**

**Starrlit: Yes, there will be more! This is a story I originally wrote when I was about thirteen. I rewrote it last year but it still needed its improvements. Currently I'm in the process of rewriting the rewrite (: Glad you like it!**

**Guest Reviewers(?): Thank you! I'll continue to try to keep my updates regular! Hope you enjoy!**

Ms Rosbe was a very pretty woman. Amaya could not help but feel drawn to her somehow. She was like a shining lighthouse in the midst of a dark storm. She radiated safety. Right now, Amaya needed that kind of safety.

She had taken her and Mamaya to a building a few blocks away in a much more rural area. The writing on the light brick walls read "Little Sprouts".

Ms Rosbe smiled down at them. "This is where I work. There are lots of other kids in here who are just like you. They're very nice, so you don't need to worry about a thing. Most of them will be eating their dinner right now. Would you like to meet them?" she asked.

The thought of being introduced to a lot of kids her age made butterflies twist in Amaya's stomach. What if they recognized her? What if they didn't like her? What if they thought she was a weirdo? The nerves made her fingers shake. She looked up at Ms Rosbe with uncertain eyes. "Um, can I just go to sleep? I don't feel too good . . ." she murmured.

Ms Rosbe gave her a sad smile. "Of course, dear. You've probably had a very long day." She took her hand, still carrying Mamaya's sleeping figure in one arm. "Come with me. I'll set you and your sister up with a room to sleep. I hope you're okay with sharing for now."

Amaya simply nodded. She followed her down a dimly lit corridor with plain brick walls and flickering lights. The air was a little hot, but Amaya did not complain. She passed a few opened doors and peered into them as they walked by. They were rooms, as far as she could tell. They were all identical in size, with up to three beds in each room, a fan for the heat, some toys and a dresser or two for clothes.

Tears welled up in Amaya's eyes. She had once had everything: a house her friends envied, a room most people could only wish for and a lifestyle that everyone craved. Now she had nothing. She no longer belonged anywhere. The rooms here were the size of her mother's old closet. How would she survive with so little to get by?

Finally, Ms Rosbe stopped at the end of the hall. She took a key from her pocket and jiggled it into the doorknob, twisted, then pushed. The wooden door opened and Amaya peered in as the woman flicked on the lights. "This is the last single room we have left right now. Unfortunately, we've picked up more kids than usual lately. Luckily, some have gone to homes or were found by their parents, but." She looked down at Amaya. "I know that it's hard, but we'll give you everything you need here."

Amaya nodded, hiding behind the curtains of her dark hair. Ms Rosbe seemed to notice her growing sadness and walked in, carefully depositing Mamaya onto the double-sized bed. She pulled the covers up around her shoulders and brushed the strands of hair from her face. Amaya watched from afar. "My mom used to do that," she murmured.

Ms Rosbe looked up at her. "Do what?" she asked gently.

Amaya scrubbed her eyes but that did not stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. "She'd put us to bed and then touch our hair." She sniffed. "Mrs Shirogane too . . . She," she sniffed, and her tears came faster, "She would do it too."

Ms Rosbe opened her arms. "I'm sorry Amaya," she murmured. "I'm sorry."

Amaya hesitated, but she yearned for someone to hold her. She just needed to be taken care of, to feel safe. She wanted the burden taken from her shoulders. She stepped forward and into Ms Rosbe's arms. The woman smelled like some kind of flower. Amaya couldn't put her finger on it, but the fragrance helped her tense shoulders to relax a little. She buried her forehead into her shoulder and cried. Ms Rosbe simply stroked her hair and rocked her back and forth gently.

They sat there like that for a long time. Amaya wasn't sure how long, but she knew she could not stay like this forever. Soon the tears finally dried up and Amaya had nothing left to cry out. Exhausted, she stepped out of Ms Rosbe's hold and smiled weakly up at her. "I'm sorry," she sniffed, wiping her face with her sleeve. "I made your shirt all wet."

She smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Amaya." She stood from her spot on the edge of the bed. "Get some sleep, okay? You'll feel a little bit better in the morning. You must be very tired."

Amaya nodded and climbed into bed next to her little sister. She pulled the sheets up around her arms and lay back against the pillows. They weren't the comfiest she'd slept on, but right now they felt like clouds to Amaya. "Thanks Ms Rosbe," she whispered, throat tight and straining.

Ms Rosbe was already shutting out the light. "You're welcome Amaya," she murmured. "I'm always here for you. Don't forget it."

She shut the door.

Amaya stared up at the ceiling for only a few seconds before she felt herself drift away into a deep, deep sleep.

For the first time in years, she slept without nightmares.

* * *

**7 years later . . .**

"Amaya! I hope you're awake! You need to get ready for school!"

Amaya could vaguely hear a familiar voice shouting through the fuzzy haze of her sleep but she'd opted to ignore it. She gave out a long, hard sigh and rolled over, shoving her face deeper into her pillows. _So waaarm, _she thought. The spring air had recently made the mornings chilly, and Amaya hated waking up cold. She curled further into the warmth of her blankets and practically purred.

"Amaya! Ugh! Mamaya! Come here and wake your sister!"

Amaya heard that. She was immediately pulled from the paradise of her sleep. Ms Rosbe trying to wake her was one thing, but her sister knew which buttons to push, which covers to pull off, which pillow to attack her with. Her eyes shot open. She darted upright. "N-no! I'm awake! Don't get Mamaya!" she wailed as the stomping neared closer.

Too late. The door swung open and a gush of air hit Amaya like a freight train. Her sister stood in the doorway, hair brushed, dressed in her school uniform and ready for the day - unlike her. "Wake up!" Mamaya shouted.

Amaya raised her hands in surrender. "I'm awake! I'm awake!" she yelped.

Mamaya huffed. She stomped into the room and grabbed the corner of the heavy duvet that had been keeping Amaya so blissfully warm. "I know you, you'll wake up and wait for me to leave and then you'll go back to sleep! Get up!" she shouted, yanking the covers hard.

Amaya tried to grab the covers but it was too late. She shivered as a sudden cold breeze overcame her. "Okay, okay, I'm up! Just give me my blanket back!" she wailed.

Mamaya hopped up onto the bed. "No way! Get up!" She grabbed her sister's arm and pulled. Amaya tried to fight against her, grabbing the headboard for support, but her sister was much stronger than she was. She glared back over her shoulder at her older sister. "Amaya, you weigh like 70 pounds, I can flick you like a bug if I wanted to!"

Amaya hated to admit defeat, but, well, she'd lost. She let out a heavy sigh and let go of the bed. "Fine, fine, look, I'm standing up. See? So let me go before you catapult me across the room," she muttered.

Mamaya released her sister's hand and grinned. She hopped off the bed and walked around toward her. "Hungry? It's your first day of high school. I know how you get hungry when you're nervous. Make sure you brush your teeth extra good today, you don't want to scare the high school boys with your god-awful morning breath."

Amaya sent her sister a dead glare as she stood from her bed and begun dressing for school. "You're awfully chatty for a girl whose first day of Junior High is today. I know how _you_ get talkative when you're nervous."

She laughed meekly. "You know I'm telling the truth anyway," she said. She went silent and watched her older sister as she begun to brush her hair. "Hey Amaya?" she said.

Amaya was engrossed in de-tangling the mass of deep red curls. "Uh-huh?" she muttered, flinching as she pulled through her hair with a hairbrush.

Mamaya fidgeted. "Well, you know, I'm getting older . . ." she said.

Amaya leaned toward the floor and flipped her hair over, brushing underneath the curtain of her hair's surface. "That you are," she muttered.

"And I'm getting to that age where, you know, boys are starting to matter kinda."

"Yep."

"So I was wondering . . ."

Amaya looked up at her upside-down through the gap between her legs and raised an eyebrow. "I hope you're not asking for the sex talk, because I'm not really down for that."

Mamaya shook her head rapidly. "N-n-no!" she yelped. "I was just wondering, what if a boy asks to meet my parents or something? You know, if I get into a serious relationship? I mean, I think that's the normal thing to do, right? To meet the parents when you're getting serious?" she asked.

Amaya stood and pushed her hair back behind her ears. "Ah," she said. She shrugged. "You can introduce him to Ms Rosbe?"

Mamaya shrugged. "I don't think Ms Rosbe would really have anything to say about it," she murmured, eyelids heavy.

Amaya stared at her younger sister for a few moments, silent. Then she shrugged back. "Introduce him to me then, and I'll let you know whether or not my asshole radar is going off. _Then _maybe we'll have the sex talk," she joked.

Mamaya grinned.

"Amaya! Mamaya! You're going to be late for school! I mean it!" Ms Rosbe shouted down the hall.

"Uh, coming!" they shouted back.

Mamaya scrambled around the room, gathering her things and shoving them into her backpack on the floor. Amaya brought her hand up to her mouth and breathed into it. She grimaced. Perhaps she should brush her teeth extra well today . . .

* * *

High school. Amaya wasn't sure what to expect, but from what most people told her, it was apparently supposed to be the best four years of her life. Then again, she supposed that was for more normal kids. Amaya never felt like she belonged. In a room that was full of people, she walked alone.

She went to Hashimoto Takara High School. It was the best school Ms Rosbe and the rest of the adults at the shelter could afford to put her into. It was nowhere near as great as Amaya remembered her elementary school to be, but she supposed in general, school was school. Ms Rosbe had told her that her elementary school had been for enriched students; kids who excelled in their learning and were eligible for advanced programs. Amaya didn't understand at first, until the other kids at the shelter explained that Amaya knew things they did not. That had been news to her - she'd assumed everyone went to school the same.

Hashimoto High School was a school for average students, with advanced programs available for those who were eligible. Amaya was enlisted in all of them.

Her uniform was a green skirt, black blazer and white blouse. She disliked having to wear a tie, but she made no complaints. During her orientation earlier in the year, her principal had informed them that anyone out of uniform conduct would be severely punished. Amaya didn't want to be the one student who got in trouble on her first day.

She walked through the halls with her heart thumping dully in her chest. Part of her wanted to run and never return. Most kids at the shelter were schooled by the supervisors there but Ms Rosbe had decided that since Amaya and Mamaya's education had been so advanced in the past, it would do well to send them to real school. She remembered when she was first told that she was excited. She longed to get out of the shelter and into the world, to see what else was out there in her new city. Since the night she and Mamaya had escaped from the hospital, they hadn't been around the city much. Being in the shelter, their freedom left much to be desired.

But now it was real. It was being thrust upon her and Amaya's past excitement had bloomed into a full-blown case of anxiety.

Other kids in the hall were stopping to talk to each other. They were laughing and chatting, typing idly on their cell phones and leaning on pale blue lockers. She felt the blood drain from her face. Cell phones? Would people find her weird if they knew she didn't have one?

Finally she came to the end of the hall and to her right, she found a door. It was covered in paintings and posters and had a metal sign that read: Administration Office And Student Help Services.

She opened the door. As she stepped across the threshold she saw a line of large, messy desks with different names on them, a few chairs set aside in a waiting area and a hallway leading behind the desks toward more rooms and offices. Two women were sitting at their respective desks, one typing on a computer and the other looking through files. The woman at the computer looked up when Amaya walked in.

She looked just short of middle-aged, with a greying-brown boy cut and tiny brown eyes. She smiled. "Hello dear. Can I help you?"

Amaya took half a step forward, fidgeting nervously with her fingers. "Um, I'm supposed to see Mr Fujioka, I think . . ." she stammered.

The woman looked through a thin file on the other side of her. "Can I have your name?" she asked.

"A-Amaya."

"Nikini?"

She gulped. Ever since that day Ms Rosbe had found her, she feared someone would recognize her. "Yes."

The woman looked up at her and smiled. "Mr Fujioka is finishing up in a meeting but he'll be with you in just a few moments. You can take a seat while you're waiting, if you'd like."

Amaya nodded and quietly sat down. She stared down at her hands in her lap and took a deep breath. _Relax, relax. I need to relax. No one will notice you, that was years and years ago._

The door creaked open and the sound of chatting kids made Amaya look up. Three boys walked into the office, stumbling over each other and laughing. One, a boy with brownish blond hair and blue eyes, caught eyes with Amaya and stopped. He smiled. "Hey," he said.

Amaya's breath caught in her throat. She quickly looked back down at her lap, heart pounding.

Footsteps approached her, but she did not look up. Her fidgeting grew frantically. She bit her lip. She wanted to run. She heard them whispering and could not help but wonder if they were making fun of her. Maybe they thought she was a freak for staring at them.

The brunet boy walked up to her. "Hey," he repeated. "You in trouble or something?"

She looked up and frowned. "Huh?"

He leaned in a little closer and raised his eyebrows. Their faces inches apart, Amaya felt her cheeks get hot. The boy was staring right at her. "Hey, cool eyes! Look, she's got multi-color eyes! What happened? Did one of them burst or something and come out a different color?"

Amaya blinked. Was he making fun of her or just asking? She shook her head. "No, I-I was just born like this. It's a condition called heterochromia. It's just a result of uneven levels of melanin in the irises. Blue and brown come from the same chromosome and sometimes genetically, they can get mixed up, although it's really rare."

He nodded, though his face had an expression like he was confused. Amaya cursed herself. _Good going, Amaya. You probably freaked him out with your nerd talk. Chromosomes? Really?_

"So what are you in here for?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to explain that she was a new student here and that she was not in trouble, but before she could, her name was called by a tall man in a grey suit from behind the desks. Amaya could only assume that that was her principal, Mr Fujioka. She stood. "S-sorry," she stammered.

She darted across the room and toward the man who'd called her. She began to follow him, looking over her shoulder to peer at the boy who'd caught her eye, but before they had the chance to speak again, the door closed between them. Amaya wished she cold have explained but she hadn't the time. Before she knew it, she was being told to sit in a chair in front of a large, looming desk.

She sat obediently.

"So Amaya Nikini," he said, looking at a file full of papers and documents. "I see according to your educational records, this is the first time you've been to school in quite a few years. Nervous?"

She grinned meekly and nodded. Through her middle school years, Ms Rosbe had taught her everything she'd needed to know in accordance to her school lessons. It wasn't until both she and Mamaya were eligible to enter new schools that they finally decided to send them to proper institutions.

"Well, let's hope that you're academic shortcomings aren't reflected in your grades," he said pleasantly.

Amaya frowned. She couldn't even tell if that had been rude or not. _Tact._

He outlined the school rules and guidelines with her and spent a few minutes telling her about what special programs were available for her. Then he continued to tell her about the student help services and what they were there for. Amaya listened intently, but she wished he spoke faster and skipped the boring parts. Most of these things had already been told to her at the student orientation she'd gone to.

"This is a copy of the school map," he said, passing it over the desk toward her. "And this is your locker information."

She took them and nodded. The map didn't look too complicated at all. From what she could tell, the main building was just one big circle with three floors. The second building looked even simpler than that. Hopefully she wouldn't have to worry about getting lost.

"Any questions?" the man asked.

Amaya shook her head.

"Excellent," he said. He glanced down at the watch on his wrist. "Then I suggest you get to class. Your home room is Class 1-K: that's room 109. Good luck."

She nodded and stood, then politely excused herself. As she walked through the hall and passed the secretary's desks, her eyes scanned the room. The boys had left, probably to go to class. She sighed. She'd definitely blown it.

Oh well. Time to tackle her first day of school.

* * *

Halfway through the day and Amaya felt exhausted. Her school day consisted of six periods and one lunch. Amaya had the late lunch, so she only had two more periods to go after this. Still, it felt like she'd spent half of her life in this building instead of half of one day.

And this was the most stressful part of all. For the most part in her classes she hadn't the need to socialize. She'd simply taken notes and done her work. But lunch was the epitome of school social time. The most she'd spoken to anyone today had been that morning when she'd been rambling about chromosomes. Sitting alone would make her look like a freak, though. She sighed. How stressful it was just to have lunch. She was beginning to lose her appetite.

She walked into the cafeteria with a nervous stride. Her stomach was doing cartwheels. When she walked in, she saw a few pairs of eyes look up to stare at her. She gulped.

Maybe she should just go outside for lunch, or find somewhere quiet where no one could find her. Everyone else was sitting in their already established friend groups. It wasn't like she could sit down with any of them and immediately be accepted.

She sighed. She knew she couldn't belong here. She turned away from the cafeteria and began walking away, wishing it was easier for her to make friends. If only Ms Rosbe had taught her how to initiate conversations without sounding like a weirdo. Heart plummeting through her stomach, she made way for the door so she could make her escape. She fought back tears of frustration. She couldn't let anyone know she was crying, then they would really think badly of her, but the stress and frustration was enough to make her want to sob.

She opened the door that led out into the hall, her legs picking up speed, when suddenly she crashed into a warm body. She stepped back and looked up. "I-I'm sorry!" she stammered.

"Hey, don't worry. I see you made it outta there this morning," the familiar voice chuckled.

Amaya's face went red. Blue eyes met hers. A smile crept up onto his face. It was the boy she had met this morning while she'd been waiting in the office. The two boys who had been with him that morning were on either sides of him, along with three other girls whose pretty faces made Amaya feel outnumbered and very out of place. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Uhm, yeah," she said, laughing nervously. She stepped aside as if to allow them to pass. "S-sorry again," she said, stepping toward the door their group was slightly blocking.

"Wait a sec!" the boy protested.

She froze, looked over her shoulder and blinked. "Um yeah?"

He grinned. "Why don't you come sit with us? 'Less you're busy with your other friends," he said.

Her heart leapt excitedly. It was the opportunity she'd been desperately wishing for. "No, I'm not busy," she said, maybe a bit too quickly.

He smiled, the freckles on his pale cheeks rising. Amaya practically melted. He jerked his head and began walking again, leading Amaya through the crowds of people. A few stared at him and then at her, their eyes becoming confused when they noticed them together. Amaya tried not to pay any attention. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. It seemed that he wasn't even noticing the way people were looking at them.

"So your name is Amaya?" the boy asked as they walked.

Amaya nodded. "Yeah. I know it's weird . . ."

He shook his head and smiled. "Not at all." He gestured toward an empty table.

His friends sat and immediately began delving into their own conversations. Amaya sat, feeling like she was an intruder on someone else's territory. Nonetheless, the boy sat next to her and continued their conversation. "I'm Max."

She nodded, her mind racing desperately for something to say. "C-cool," she said nervously, immediately regretting it. _COOL?!_

"So you must be new here. I haven't seen you around before," he said. "What grade are you in?"

She nodded again. She'd slipped up once, there was no room for another. "Yeah, this is my first day. I'm in grade 10," she said shyly.

A boy who had been listening in on the other side of the table smirked. "A freshman, huh? No wonder you look terrified at everything," he laughed.

She laughed nervously. She hadn't known she was being that obvious.

"What elementary school did you come from?" a girl with beautiful long brown hair asked. Amaya felt inferior just looking at her.

She gulped. What to say? She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "Um, it's a school outside of town. You probably wouldn't know it. Most people haven't heard of it," she said, laughing meekly. _Did that come off bitchy? I hope not._

"So then you recently moved here?" Max asked.

Amaya nodded, smiling.

Max grinned, his blue eyes meeting with Amaya's. She blinked, the nervousness in her stomach threatening to make her sick. She felt like she was drowning. "What are you doing after school today?" he asked.

Amaya's heart exploded. Was he asking her out on a date?! "Um, nothing. Yet?"

He smirked. "Meet me at the front gates after school. I know a place you would love! I'll show you around as your welcome to Tokyo gift!" he said.

She nodded. "S-sure," she said.

And that was how she'd found herself at the end of the day, waiting outside the gates. She leaned on the brick wall that surrounded the school grounds and stared down at the light concrete, heart pounding dully in her chest. Part of her felt like a fool. What if Max had just been trying to pull a prank on her? Maybe she should just go home. If Ms Rosbe noticed she was late, she would probably get scolded. Plus she had a ton of homework to get done tonight. Perhaps this entire thing was a bad idea, she thought. Better to focus on her studies and get good grades then go out with boys and work on her social skills - or lack thereof.

Her mind made up, Amaya sighed and turned to walk down the side walk toward Ms Rosbe's. She took a step forward and, just as she began moving, was stopped by a hand at her wrist. She frowned and looked over her shoulder to see who had grabbed her. When her eyes met blue, she flushed. "M-Max."

He grinned. "I hope you weren't planning on leaving," he said sadly.

She shook her head, and suddenly her resolve had diminished. "N-no! I was just, you know, walking around, passing the time and stuff!" she laughed nervously. "S-so where's this place you were talking about?"

He smiled and jerked his head for her to follow as he began walking in the opposite direction Amaya had been heading. She hurriedly obeyed.

They walked in silence for a few moments, Amaya fidgeting nervously. She knew she had to say something, but what? For some reason her speech capabilities were down to zero whenever she was around him. She'd never been amazing in the social game, but she wasn't usually this embarrassingly bad either. She felt way out of her league. Part of her wished she _had_ just gone home, but another part disagreed. She had to put herself out there and make friends if she ever expected to make it through high school. Might as well get it done sooner rather than later.

She began to work up the nerve to open her mouth. _Be smooth. Pretend you do this all the time. You're the queen! Put on your crown and act queenly! Or something. _She opened her mouth. She was about to take a chance at a conversation-starter, when suddenly Max stopped. She yelped and crashed into his back. Face red, she groaned inwardly. _So much for that__._

"You okay?"

Amaya cleared her throat and jumped out from behind him. "Haha! Of course! Sorry!" she stammered.

He smiled. "Well, here we are."

She looked up. Instantly, she lit up. "How cute!" she cried.

It was a tall, two-story building adorned with pink decor and hearts on every door and window possible. Part of Amaya wondered what a boy would be doing at such a girly-looking place, but she pushed that thought toward the back of her mind.

Max snaked an arm around he shoulders and pulled her slightly closer toward him. Her heart fluttered. She looked up at him.

His blue eyes were dancing as he flashed a smile. "Shall we go in?"

She nodded, her mind in a blurry daze.

The last thing she noticed of the building before they walked in was a sign that read "Welcome to Cafe Mew Mew!"


	4. Ryou Shirogane

"Welcome to Café Mew Mew! How many are in your party today?"

Amaya felt like she was in an entirely new universe. The walls were pink. The chairs were shaped like hearts. There were display counters full of colorful and delicious looking cakes and tarts. Her mouth watered. Suddenly she was starving.

"Two," she heard Max say from the corner of her concentration.

The girl wore all red, and had matching red hair. She smiled and turned, gesturing for them to follow her to their table. They were seated at a small table next to one of the heart shaped windows. "Will here be okay?" she asked.

They nodded.

The waitress smiled as they took their seats, Amaya becoming slightly discouraged as Max removed his arm from around her shoulders. It had been comforting for him to be that close to her.

"Can I get you two anything to drink to start? We have many types of herbal tea, and the special today is Passion Peach!"

"Just water is fine for me," Max said.

Amaya had wanted to try an herbal tea, but she figured it'd be better for her to just have water too. Besides, she didn't want to feel like the odd one out when Max was just getting water. "Me too please," she said.

The waitress nodded. "Two waters, coming right up!" And off she went.

Max grinned and looked at Amaya, one eyebrow raised. "She was a bit too cheerful if you ask me," he chuckled.

Amaya laughed quietly. "Maybe it's just how they like the customer service here," she suggested.

He shrugged. "So, what do you think?" he asked, looking around.

Amaya took in the environment around her. There were many students, both from her school and from other schools, sitting in large and small groups and chatting around delicious looking desserts. "It's nice. It seems popular," she said.

He nodded. "All the girls love it, ever since it opened a year or two ago. Seeing as how you're new around here, I figure you might as well know about it. Besides, what girl doesn't love desserts, right?" he joked.

She laughed and nodded in agreement. It was all very kind, and Amaya was grateful, but part of her wished she'd disagreed to coming. Sure, it would have been okay had she still had her old life, but Ms Rosbe didn't give her an allowance – Amaya had no money. All she could get here was water.

The waitress came back with two glasses and set them down onto the table. "Have you made up your minds on what you'd like today? The fruit tart and angel food cake are especially popular today," she said.

All at once, they turned to Amaya. She felt the blood drain from her face. "U-uh, I'm okay with just this," she said, grabbing her glass of water. "I, uh, had a big lunch!"

Max frowned. "You didn't eat during lunch," he murmured.

She cursed herself. "I, uh, I ate after!" she stammered.

He shrugged. "Got any room to share a fruit tart? It's on me," he offered.

Her face went slightly red. "Um, s-sure," she said nervously. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled loudly. She flushed.

The waitress smiled. "One big slice of fruit tart, coming right up!" she said, and again she was off.

Amaya watched her go. She ran toward a narrow hallway near the back of the store and disappeared into it. That must have led toward the kitchens. She wondered if the chefs were back there making new desserts as they spoke. The thought made her mouth water. Mamaya would love it here, she thought. _Maybe I'll bring her here one day._

"So, Amaya."

She snapped from her reverie. "Uh, yes?" she yelped.

"How was your first day of school?" Max asked, smiling gently.

Amaya felt her nerves melt away as his smile washed over her like the warmth of the sun on a hot summer's day. She couldn't believe her luck. She was actually having a conversation with him! She returned his smile and shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. Sorta nerve-wracking. And I've got tons of homework."

He chuckled. "Yeah, school tends to suck the fun out of pretty much everything. What are your classes?"

"Advanced Calculus first thing in the morning," she muttered. "Then biology, advanced chemistry, grade eleven advanced English, Japanese and physics."

Max frowned at her, eyes wide. "Holy crap. What's up with the hard courses?!"

She giggled. "I'm in the advanced program," she said casually. "I'm apparently really smart or something."

"Apparently," he muttered. "I'd hate to have your homework load."

She shrugged. "It's not so bad. What about you? What stuff are you in?"

He grinned. "Easy stuff compared to you. Mechanics and engineering, math, woodshop, history, visual arts and Japanese."

She shook her head. "It sounds way more fun than my classes," she said.

The waitress returned with a plate and two forks. She set them down in the center of the table and smiled. "Enjoy!" she chirped, skipping off to wait on more tables.

Amaya looked down at the colorful plate, her mouth watering. They immediately dug in. Amaya felt like she was in heaven. Here she was in the middle of an adorable café with a cute boy and delicious food. What more could she want?

It all seemed perfect. Until the waitress came with the bill and Amaya realized it was over. Max took the bill and immediately began digging into his pocket for change. Amaya looked up at the waitress. "Ah, excuse me? Can I get the rest of this to go?"

She nodded. "Of course." She looked over her shoulder at a shorter girl in a yellow dress with blonde hair. She'd been doing various tricks like balancing plates over her head and rolling on a ball as she made way for the narrow hallway toward the kitchen. "Ah, Pudding! Could you grab a box on your way to the bac-"

_CRASH!_

Amaya winced as the blonde girl slipped from the big beach ball she'd been balancing on and dropped all the plates onto the ground. She groaned. "On second thought, I'll do it," the redhead murmured.

A girl with green hair raced toward the catastrophe with a broom and dustpan. "Pudding! Are you okay?" she asked.

As Max proceeded to pay the pill, Amaya thought. _Pudding. _The name was odd, but it seemed familiar for some reason. She couldn't be mistaking it for someone else – how many people in the world could be named Pudding? She wondered how she might have met the girl. From her old house? No, that wasn't it. Perhaps she'd heard it while wandering about the Tokyo streets as a kid. But still, somehow that felt wrong.

The blonde girl sat up and scratched the back of her head, laughing meekly. "Pudding's okay!" she chirped.

Then she remembered.

"_Pudding is Heicha's big sister. She drops her off and picks her up every day before and after work. They both used to live in the shelter because there was a period of time after their mother passed away when they had nowhere to go. Their father began sending money over from China to help out, so now she can afford her own place. You'll see them both every once in a while going in and out of the shelter, but it's okay – they're friendly."_

Ms Rosbe's words echoed through her mind. She began to fidget nervously. She turned her face toward the window, hoping that Pudding wouldn't recognize her.

The girl in red ran off toward the back with the bill in hand to find a box for Amaya. As she went, Amaya glanced over her shoulder toward the blonde and green girls. They were still too immersed in the mess she'd made to pay attention to Amaya. She blew a deep sigh of relief.

"You okay?" Max asked.

Amaya grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, is all."

He opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly an ear-piercing shout rang through their ears. "Shiro-_GANE!"_

Amaya's eyes went wide. Her head shot up just in time to see a tall blond boy emerge from the hallway, the redhead stomping angrily at his heels. He turned to her as if to yell at her, but as he did, his eyes met Amaya's. She gulped, too frozen to act.

_No way! It's been years! Why do we have to meet now?! _

She held her breath, hoping desperately that he wouldn't say anything. If he did, then her cover would _really_ be blown. Her mind raced, heart pounding. The bass throb before each pound echoed deafeningly through her ears. She wanted to run.

But then he turned back to the girl in red and continued with their argument like nothing had happened. She took a deep breath and forced her breath to come back.

Max frowned. "You look like you saw a ghost," he said.

Amaya laughed and shook her head. "N-no, I'm fine! Don't mind me!" She stood and picked up her schoolbag. "Actually, now that you mention it, I should get going. Lots of homework and stuff, you know. Haha, um, thanks a lot for today. It was g-great!"

She turned and hurried toward the door to make her escape. She heard the waitress calling after her for her box, but she ignored it.

She ran fast and hard, paying little attention to where she was actually going. When she finally began to slow down, she looked around her and wondered where she was. She cursed. She'd forgotten she didn't really know her way around here. All she knew was how to get to school from home and vice versa. Her surroundings looked unfamiliar, so this probably was not the right way to get home. But which way was she supposed to go to go back where she started?

Amaya groaned. She was lost.

Maybe there was somewhere she could go where she could ask for directions. She walked around aimlessly, looking for shops and public places where she could ask a salesperson for directions. For the most part, her search was for naught. She was in a rural backstreet – in other words the only things around her were peoples' houses. She wasn't about to knock on a door, that was for sure.

So what to do? She wished she had a phone, that way she could call Mamaya or Ms Rosbe. The sun was setting. Ms Rosbe would be getting worried soon.

She continued walking. No use freaking out – it would only stress her out. She would find someone to ask as long as she kept moving.

As she walked, she kept thinking about the scene back at the café. She hadn't been mistaken – that really had been Ryou. She recognized him and she knew he recognized her. Part of her was glad that he was looking so good and doing well after all these years, but another wanted to reach out to him, to apologize for all the misfortune she caused on him and his family. If Mrs Shirogane hadn't taken her in, they might not have died.

It had been over a decade since the first incident had happened at the Nikini mansion but Amaya was no less terrified than she had been that day. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw images of her mother and father being devoured by the ghoulish monster that had attacked them. She still woke at night at the slightest sound, tensed and ready to attack anything that seemed like a threat to her. She wondered if Ryou was the same.

She still did not know what the creature had wanted her for. She figured if it were just for the sake of food, any human would do – why chase her all around Japan? No, there was something about Amaya that attracted the monster. But what could it be?

Thinking about it gave her shivers. She glanced over her shoulder, mild paranoia telling her to watch for signs of a threat. Nothing was there but the empty pavement.

She took a deep breath and tried to relax. It had been a long day, and her mind was just playing tricks on her.

_SNAP!_

She whipped around. Again, nothing was there. Her heart was beginning to pound. A primal instinct inside her told her to run, but she fought it. There was no need to jump to conclusions. Maybe it was a squirrel or a dog.

She kept walking, humming quietly to herself so that the silence wouldn't seem so intimidating. She approached an alleyway and moved carefully to avoid it. Her past experiences had told her to keep away from those.

_CRACK!_

She froze. She knew she hadn't imagined that. Her breath became ragged. She was too paralyzed to move. She listened for any more noises, but she wasn't sure what she was hearing anymore. Was it the wind, or was there something breathing down her neck?

Warily, she turned to look over her shoulder.

A pair of slit-like eyes met hers.

Amaya screamed. She tried to back away, but she twisted her ankle instead and ended up crashing into the ground on her back. She tried to scramble away, but it was to no avail. The pressure on her foot made it sting even worse.

She wasn't sure if it was her mind reverting back to the memories of her childhood or if it was really happening, but a high-pitched laughter shrilled through her ears. She felt hot, sticky breath on her face, a taloned hand around her arm. She clamped her eyes shut, too horrified to move, but even with her eyes shut she was not free. Images of herself as a child and that same hand around her ankle danced across her mind. In the back of her mind, she heard Mamaya crying. She had saved Mamaya that day. Why couldn't she do the same for herself?

"Stop right there, you scaly lizard! Don't you lay a hand on her!"

Amaya felt the hotness on her cheek disappear. The laughter was replaced with an animalistic roaring sound. She wanted to open her eyes to see what was happening, but she was too scared. She couldn't bear to look it in the face again.

"Zakuro, get in there and get that girl out! We'll handle the rest!" the voice shouted.

A few moments later, Amaya felt hands on her shoulders. "Open your eyes!" a voice above her shouted. "You need to get up and run!"

Amaya's eyes opened slowly. A girl with long purple hair and fuzzy grey ears protruding from the crown of her hair was leaning over her. She frowned. Was she seeing things? Maybe she was dead and the afterlife was filled with strange creatures. Or maybe she was in hell.

"Can you stand?" the girl asked.

Amaya shook her head, her mind in a daze.

A crashing sound snapped her back to reality. She sat up and saw it. The creature was in battle with four other girls, each bright colors with different ears and tails like the girl who was helping Amaya. She wanted to warn them, to tell them to run, but they were too far away to have heard her.

The girl, Zakuro, Amaya remembered, grabbed Amaya and hopped up onto a nearby roof with graceful ease. Amaya held on tight, cramming her eyes shut. It had felt like she was on a rollercoaster. She set her down carefully and stood. "Stay here. I'll come back and get you when we're done," she said. With that, she returned to her strange comrades.

Amaya watched her go, reaching after her as if to pull her back, to warn her, to scream at her to run. Her mouth was lagging to keep up with her body, because by the time words came out, she was out of earshot. She sighed.

The creature seemed to notice that it was outnumbered and not going to get what it wanted. With a loud, deafening screech, it spread it enormous wings and took off. At first Amaya saw it coming toward her, and she let out a scream, but instead it laughed and flew over her, continuing on into the clouds. Somehow Amaya knew that would not be the last of it.

Subconsciously, Amaya heard voices in her ears, but suddenly everything was becoming blurry. She slipped into darkness, desperately clinging to the release it offered.

* * *

Amaya groaned. She heard voices. They were familiar, but not like Mamaya and Ms Rosbe's. They were the kind of familiar that Amaya could not quite remember. She noticed she felt like she was sleeping on a cloud. There was a fluffy pillow under her head and cushions like feathers on all sides of her. She snuggled closer into them, sighing happily.

"Amaya, now's not the time to be taking a catnap," a familiar voice snapped.

Her eyes snapped open. Blue eyes were staring into hers, but this time they did not belong to Max. These eyes were much bluer, and had an edge of sternness that Max's eyes lacked.

She sat up and immediately took in her surroundings. She was on a long, brown couch, which explained why she felt so comfortable. They were in a small room that resembled something like a lounge. The carpeted floors were pink, and she noticed the window on the other end of the room was shaped like a heart. Were they back at the café?

"Good morning," Ryou said dryly.

Another man with long brown hair smiled down at her. "How are you feeling? We tried our best to help with your injuries, but it looks like just a twisted ankle. It should be fine in a few days," he said.

Amaya was at a loss for words. An image of little Ryou sitting in a hospital bed with a dark-haired boy at his side flashed across her mind. This must have been the same man. All this time, they had stayed together? Maybe he had taken care of Ryou.

She glanced toward the door near the foot of her makeshift bed. It was slightly ajar, giving her a slight view of the scene outside. The waitress she had met a while ago was sitting at a table with four other girls. Pudding was one of them. They were just sitting and chatting from what she could tell, but when one of them noticed her, they turned and smiled. They stood and walked into the room.

The girl in red walked up to her and smiled down at her. It wasn't like the cheerful smile she'd flashed during her customer service – this time it was more genuine, and a bit sadder. "I'm glad you're okay. You scared me when you ran out the door earlier," she said.

Amaya was out of words. Logical thinking told her that perhaps she'd dreamt about the monster and simply hit her head on something. She hadn't seen identical girls like these ones with ears and tails and weird costumes. Right?

She looked from the girl in red, to Ryou, then back again.

Pudding ran up to her and put a hand to her forehead. "Are you okay? You're not talking!"

Talking. Yes, she should probably do that soon. But what to say? There were so many things, she had no idea where to start.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Ryou joked, arms crossed against his chest.

It echoed through her head like a bad song chorus.

Suddenly Amaya knew exactly what to say.

She turned on Ryou, eyes aflame. Her temper roared. "Ex_cuse me?! _Seven years of silence and after all this time, all you've got to say is 'CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?! You're a jerk, Ryou Shirogane! You could at least pretend you gave a damn about my well-being, just for the sake of good manners! Why did I ever worry about you?! You're such a-"

"Someone turn her off!" Ryou said, pushing her away from his face.

She panted with rage.

The girl in green cleared her throat politely. "Excuse me, but, it seems like you know Shirogane from somewhere. Would you mind telling us?" she asked.

Amaya sobered. She fidgeted. "Ah, well . . ."

Ryou stood. "Don't worry about it, Lettuce. For now, someone help Amaya home. She can't walk on that ankle," he said. He shoved his hands into his pockets and began making way for the door.

Amaya's heart dropped. "Wait!" she called out after him. "That's it? That's seriously all you have to say? Aren't you at least going to explain what the hell just happened?"

He looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "It's a long story, and it'll take up too much of your time. You need to get home, don't you?"

She frowned, not wanting to admit that he was right. It was dark out now, Ms Rosbe would be infuriated.

"Pudding and Ichigo will take you home. Come back when your ankle is feeling better. Then I'll explain," he said. With that, he turned and walked out of the room. Amaya watched him go, heart plummeting through her stomach.

The brunet man smiled at Amaya. "Don't mind him. He's just as shocked about this all as you are," he said encouragingly.

Amaya looked up at him. "Can _you _at least tell me something?" she asked.

He smiled nervously, clearly not wanting to upset her but also not wanting to cross Ryou. "I think it's a story best told by Ryou," he said.

She sighed.

Pudding smiled. "It's okay! You're coming back real soon anyway, right?" she chirped.

Amaya forced a smile, but she suddenly felt very tired. She had expected Ryou to care a little bit more. Perhaps she'd overthought their closeness, or maybe he just stopped caring after she ran away. She rubbed at her eyes. All she wanted was to curl into the comfort of the cushions beneath her and sleep.

The girl in red – Ichigo, Ryou had called her – leaned over her to help her up. Amaya hesitantly took her help and stood. They walked out of the room, Amaya looking over her shoulder to peer back into it. As they made way for the front hall, Amaya faced forward again.

Ichigo seemed to notice her sadness. As Pudding opened the door and held it out for them to walk through, she smiled at her. "So, your name is Amaya, right? Shirogane's never mentioned you before."

Amaya cracked a small smile. The fresh, crisp air usually would make her feel refreshed, but today it only brought on sadness. "I'm from a part of his past he probably doesn't like to talk about," she admitted. The gloom inside her began to spread, and Amaya felt physically drained. "I guess after all that's happened, it makes sense why he doesn't care much about me."

Ichigo stammered, as if trying to figure out what to say. "Ichigo, you made it worse!" Pudding whispered.

"I-I'm sure Shirogane cares!" she cried, attempting to reconcile for her mistake. "Sometimes he acts like a jerk and pretends to be really distant, but he cares. He just doesn't know how to show it, that's all," she explained.

Amaya looked at up at her from the corner of her eye. She was pretty. She had changed from the red dress and apron to a grey, long-sleeved school uniform, and her hair was now tied up into two pigtails. She grinned. "Got a crush on him?"

Ichigo's eyes went round. She jumped. Her face went fire engine red. "W-w-w-what?! No! Me, have on a crush on a j-jerk like him? I have a boyfriend! We're in love! I could never fall for someone like Shirogane!" she wailed, flailing dramatically.

Amaya stepped away from her windmill-inspired movements to avoid getting hit, arms raised in surrender. "It was just a joke!" she cried.

"Ichigo gets like this," Pudding said. "Don't worry."

Amaya nodded nervously.

They were in a familiar area now. Amaya could tell where they were and how to get back to the shelter from here. She pulled away from Ichigo and Pudding's arms and smiled, bowing politely. "Thanks for the help, I can go alone from here," she said.

Ichigo frowned. "But . . ."

She grinned. "I'm really fine," she insisted, hoping they would just back down. "My place is right around the corner. I don't want anyone worrying, that's all."

They shared glances with one another. For a moment, she feared Pudding would say something about Ms Rosbe or the shelter, but they simply shrugged. "If you say so," Ichigo said. "Make sure you come back to the café sometime soon!"

She nodded and waved, watching as they turned and walked back the way they had come. She waited until they were a fair distance away before turning to walk toward the shelter. When he got close enough, she noticed the front door was open, and light was flooding out into the street from it. Against the light, the shadow of a tall woman stood. Amaya's heart fluttered. She was in big trouble.

Nonetheless, she dropped her schoolbag on the front lawn and ran to Ms Rosbe, throwing her arms around her and sobbing. The woman was startled at first, but then she slowly wrapped her arms around Amaya's shoulders. Amaya welcomed her warmth. It had been such a long and horrible day, all she wanted was to collapse into the safety she yearned for.

Ms Rosbe sighed. "Oh Amaya. What are we going to do with you?"

Amaya looked up at her, tears in her eyes. "I hate school," she muttered. "Do I have to go back?"

She smiled down at the younger girl. "Yes, for now. Don't worry, you'll start to like it much better once you get used to it. Now, come inside and have some dinner and then you'd better finish all of your homework. Then I'll warm the bath for you and you can have a nice rest. Okay?"

Amaya smiled and nodded, but it wasn't what she had wanted to hear. She sighed and followed Ms Rosbe inside.

* * *

Amaya avoided Max at school the next day. She was sure he hated her after running out on their date, and besides, what could she say to him? She was still too caught up in her worries about the monster attacking her again and Ryou Shirogane. She had hoped that high school meant she could have a fresh start, a life away from her haunting past. Now it seemed all she had was new problems to stack on top of her old ones.

Ryou had told her to come back to the café to hear what he had to say about the situation but she wasn't sure that was really what she wanted. Part of her wanted to run, to pretend nothing had happened so that she could attempt to move on. Another knew that what she wanted was impossible, especially if the creature knew where Amaya was now.

She sighed. She wished that the monster would attack her so that it could burn down the school in the process. All of her troubles was one thing, but every day she came home with mountains of homework to do. She hardly had time to even speak to Mamaya anymore.

She sat alone in the library during lunch to get a head start on her homework. That got rid of her stress of sitting in the cafeteria, and it would certainly help cut down her homework time at home. Eventually she developed a system so that when she was assigned homework, she finished it in the next class. She was an exceptional multi-tasker when it came to these things, so she was able to listen to the lesson while scrawling down her math problems.

She went straight home every day to nap, spend some time with her sister and relax. Things were better like this. School was bearable when she was not socializing. The homework and workload still exhausted her, but nowhere near as much as choosing where to sit in the cafeteria.

"You've been quiet," Mamaya said one day as they sat in the middle of the playroom at a small round table. Mamaya had pulled out her homework – a small load compared to Amaya's – and Amaya had been staring at a television screen a few feet away. Younger children surrounded them, playing with blocks and dolls or also staring at the television screen.

Amaya shrugged, elbow leaning against the table, her cheek resting against her fist. "School sucks. It's kind of draining to the soul," she muttered.

Mamaya laughed at that but she shook her head. "Still, you're acting depressed. What's wrong?"

Amaya sighed. Since they'd run away she and Mamaya had become much closer than they had been as kids. Aside from Ms Rosbe, she was the only one Amaya could really trust. That meant that hiding things from Mamaya could be difficult at best.

She looked at her little sister. "I ran into Ryou Shirogane the other day."

Mamaya looked shocked at first, but then she grinned. "How is he?"

Amaya shrugged, looking back toward the TV to hide her discomfort. "Dunno," she said. "We didn't really talk. He's working at some café with that brown-haired guy. He told me to come back again another time to get explanations."

Mamaya set down her pencil. "Okay. So are you going to go back?"

Again, Amaya shrugged. "I don't know. I guess."

She felt her sister's eyes scrutinizing her, but she simply stared at the television screen. It was a kid's show about some group of superheroes who saved the town from evildoers – Amaya wasn't sure what was going on, but it was captivating enough. Part of it reminded her of the group who had saved her from the monster that day. She wondered if maybe they were like that, too.

"I don't think he blames you, you know," Mamaya's voice said, interrupting her reverie.

Amaya shrugged. "Maybe not, but I do," she admitted.

"Maybe whatever he has to say will ease your mind a little," she suggested. "Either way, I think you owe it to both of you to go back and get some answers. Whatever he has to say, he's probably needed to let it out for a long time, and I'm sure you've got things you want to let go of too."

Amaya blinked and looked at her sister. The younger girl simply grinned and picked up her pencil again, continuing her work. "You're too smart to be my sister," Amaya muttered.

Mamaya snickered. "Yeah whatever, now come help me with this problem – it's been killing me for the last twenty minutes.

* * *

The weekend could not have taken any longer to have gotten here, Amaya thought. When she woke late that Sunday morning, she was so relieved that she did not have to worry about homework or socializing or getting out of bed early. She had had much time to catch up on with her pillows and blankets.

With her relief, she realized that Mamaya had been right. She owed it to herself to get some answers and she owed it to Ryou not to run away again. She climbed out of bed and got dressed and decided that today she was going to the café.

"Good luck. Bring me back something delicious!" Mamaya called after her, watching her as she made her way down the sidewalk.

Amaya waved back and smiled.

The air was nice today: not too hot with a perfect breeze. The smell of freshly cut grass and a mix of different flora enveloped her senses. The blades of grass on either sides of the sidewalk were shining dimly with the beads of the remaining morning dew. It was a perfect day.

When she walked into the café, she was greeted with a warm hello from Pudding. The young girl bounded up to her and threw her arms around her waist. "Big sister! You came back! Pudding knew you would!" she exclaimed.

Amaya blinked. She hadn't expected such an elaborate welcome. _Big sister? _"Ah, h-hey Pudding."

The other girls walked up to her and smiled, making Amaya suddenly feel a little outnumbered. "How's your ankle feeling? Are you better now?" the girl in green asked.

She nodded shyly.

Ichigo grinned. "Ah, sorry. Amaya, this is Zakuro, Lettuce and Mint. And you already know me and Pudding. Of course, you know Shirogane as well, and the guy over there," she said, pointing to a window near the back that led to the kitchen where the brunet man was washing dishes, "is Akasaka."

Amaya waved shyly at them.

The girl named Mint smiled. "Would you care for something to eat or drink? Ichigo will gladly serve you."

Ichigo glared at the shorter girl. "Mint!" she growled.

Amaya shook her head. "That's okay. Actually, I don't have any money, so-"

"Don't be ridiculous, Amaya, you don't need to pay," Ichigo said cheerfully.

"Consider this one on the house!" Pudding chirped.

Amaya smiled. She wasn't sure why these girls were being so nice to her, but she was grateful for it. They were much kinder than the people she went to school with. If only she knew more people like them.

"Sorry girls, but the dessert is going to have to wait a while," a voice said behind them. They turned to see Ryou entering the room. "Why don't you girls open up shop? Amaya and I have something important to discuss."

They groaned, but did as were told.

Ryou walked up to Amaya, making her look up at him, face red. It was strange, he was only two years older than her, yet he towered over her. "Come with me," he said, turning back the way he came.

Amaya followed. She was led through the narrow hallway that she'd seen Ichigo and the others run in and out of on her last visit, past the kitchen and toward a tall, winding staircase. They climbed up them until they reached the landing, then they walked further down the hall toward a half-opened door. Amaya was in awe. She hadn't known the place was this large.

Ryou opened the door further and walked in, holding it open for her. She hesitantly stepped into the room and looked around.

She frowned. It looked like a bedroom. There was a bed underneath a wide window, a closet near the foot of it and a door which presumably led to a bathroom on the other side. Against the far wall there was a computer. Aside from that, the room was barren. She looked up at him. "You . . . Live here?"

He nodded. He gestured toward the bed for her to sit. She hesitantly did so. He grabbed a desk chair and sat on it to face her. "After you disappeared, I told Keiichirou – that's the guy downstairs – that I wanted to run. He and I traveled to America. I stayed there for a few years to work on my father's research. Oddly enough, it escaped the fire. I came back to Japan to perfect and finish it.

"We opened the café and found five girls whose DNA cooperated with the experiment. That would be the five girls you met downstairs," he explained.

Images of the girl in purple with the fuzzy grey ears popped into her head. She frowned. "So you made them? I don't get it."

He shook his head. "My father's research showed that the Earth's state was gradually decreasing throughout the years due to an outside threat attacking the planet." He smirked and shook his head. "Actually, it was _your _father's research. My dad just took it on after yours passed away."

Amaya's head spun. "I don't understand."

He shook his head. "Let me start again. Your father began research about the earth's deterioration. My father was one of the leading scientists helping with his experimental research. They wanted to create a force that would help stop the deterioration of planet earth and save humankind. They knew that whatever it was that was attacking the planet, it would kill us sooner rather than later.

"They discovered that Earth could be saved through the DNA of Red Data Animals."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Red Data Animals?"

He nodded. "Some people's chemical makeup allows them to host the DNA of these animals. By awakening that DNA, the girls you met downstairs are now able to transform into the half-animal girls you saw the other day. They fight things like what attacked you all the time. They dubbed themselves Tokyo Mew Mew."

Amaya was just trying to grasp it all. She remembered Ryou had always been studying but she had no idea it was for something this big. She looked up at him. "You mean there are more of those things?" she asked.

He nodded. "They're called Chimera Animas. They're mostly just ordinary animals infused with parasite DNA. The girls have the ability to split the parasite from the animal in order to return it to its original state." His eyes darkened. "That one seems to be different though."

Amaya's fists clenched. She grabbed a handful of bed sheets and clasped them tightly. "I-I'm sorry I ran away! I'm sorry for this entire mess, actually," she said, eyelids heavy. She stared down at the floor. "If your family hadn't taken me in, they'd probably be alive right now. It's my fault that your parents are . . ."

He said nothing. He simply stared at her and "hm"ed as he thought. Then he stood and shoved his hands into his pockets. He made way for the door and gestured for her to follow. "Come," he said, walking toward the stairs where they had come from.

Amaya scrubbed the wetness from her eyes and followed, fidgeting nervously with her fingers. He led her back downstairs and toward a small room with different colored lockers and mirrors. For a moment he was rummaging through a small closet in the hall outside the door. Then he turned to her, and suddenly there was a box being shoved into her hands. She took it and frowned. "What's this?" she asked.

He smirked. "You need the money, don't you? Your running away most likely meant you didn't get much of an inheritance. So put on your uniform and get to work."

She opened the box. A folded uniform like the ones the other girls were wearing lay inside, only the colors were yellow-ish orange and black. She looked up at Ryou. "But isn't this like a secret hideout for you guys? I'll be in the way . . ."

Ryou shook his head. "This uniform wasn't made by mistake. We were meant to have another member."

She blinked. "W-w-wait, what?!"

A small pink mouse-like creature floated out from behind his shoulder. Ryou grinned. "This is R2000. Ichigo calls him Masha. He's our team mascot."

She looked up at the strange floating thing and watched as its mouth opened wide. Instead of a tongue, she saw a strange blue abyss. From the abyss, a small shining thing like a tear drop fell. Amaya automatically reached out to catch it with her free hand. She looked down at what she'd caught. "A pendant?"

Ryou nodded. "It's to awaken your Mew Mew powers. Call on it when you need to."

Amaya's mind was a jumbled mess. "Wait, _WHAT?!_" she wailed. She didn't understand. What Mew Mew powers?

Ryou simply shoved his hands into his pockets and began to walk away. "Ask the girls for more help. I've got things to take care of."

She let out a desperate whimper as he disappeared back down the hallway. She stared down at her hands: the uniform in one, pendant in the other. All she had come here for was an explanation and maybe some catching up. Now she was being told she was part of Ryou's band of freak shows?! She looked back up at the pink floating thing. "I'm a . . . Mew Mew?"

Masha floated happily around her. "Mew Mew! Mew Mew!" he chanted. "Mew Mew Amaya! Mew Mew Amaya!"

She groaned. Like her life wasn't difficult enough as it was.


	5. The Mouse and the Fox

**A/N: This took me a bit longer to write than usual, sorry for the wait. Thanks for all the support so far! (:**

After Amaya stumbled back into the café's dining room, the girls crowded around her to see what was in the box she held. When they recognized the uniform and pendant, they were just about as shocked as Amaya was. Well, at least that made her feel a little bit better.

Ichigo looked up at the floating pink thing. "Masha, how do you know that Amaya is a Mew Mew?"

Masha floated contently, wings hardly flapping. "Masha knows! Masha knows! Amaya has the mark!"

Amaya frowned and looked down at herself. "The mark? What mark? Where?" She searched her arms and legs and saw nothing that hadn't been there before. Was it in an embarrassing place? She hoped not.

A small gust of air blew across Amaya's cheek as Masha flew up behind her ear. "Right here! Right here!"

They leaned in, and suddenly Amaya felt like a zoo animal.

"I see it!" Pudding shouted, pointing in horror.

"She's right," Zakuro said. "It's there. You really are a Mew Mew."

Amaya touched her neck below her ear where the alleged mark was. She'd never noticed a strange mark there before. Then again, her hair usually covered her neck, and she couldn't actually see her neck for herself unless she was looking in a mirror. How long had it been there?

"Do you feel any different than usual?" Lettuce asked.

Amaya shook her head. "Not really . . ." she murmured. She felt her stomach grumble angrily. She flushed and covered it as if to hide the sound. "But, I'm really hungry all of a sudden."

"Try some of Akasaka's desserts! Ichigo does it all the time!" Pudding chirped.

Ichigo glared down at the younger girl, face red. "I do not!" she wailed.

Amaya pouted. She was hungry, but not for desserts. She was getting strange cravings she'd never had before: a craving for something carnivorous. Part of her wanted to go out and find something to satisfy her hunger, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her just as she was about to act. She looked up to see Zakuro.

"You should change. We'll be opening up soon. Shadow Ichigo for a while to learn what to do, after that you'll be on your own," she said.

Amaya nodded and made way for the change room.

When she returned, Lettuce was opening the store and a line of high school and middle school students were already stationed outside the door. Amaya was in awe. She felt her stomach tumble with nerves. She hoped she didn't mess up.

Ichigo bounded up to her and smiled. "What's most important is just to stay calm and be polite. As long as you have that, you're fine," she said supportively.

She smiled and nodded, but she was nervous regardless.

The day was long and Amaya felt as if she were drowning; every time she was asked to do something or to help a customer, she couldn't help but mess up once or twice. She'd never realized how difficult being a waitress really was. How the hell had these younger girls been doing it so long?

By the time her break came along it was just about the end of the day. She was leaned over a table with her head in her folded arms, sighing heavily as her back creaked like the hinges of an old, rusty door. She looked up, watching as the other girls continued working, dashing from table to table with plates upon plates.

_They sure do work hard, even for a secret hideout. I wonder if I'll get better, too? _she wondered.

"Ah, Amaya! Care for some tea?"

She looked up. To the table next to her, Amaya saw Mint sitting with a teacup in her fingers, one leg crossed over the other with her pinky up, daintily. The raven-haired girl smiled politely and gestured for her to sit at her side.

Amaya blinked. She found the girl odd, but she did as offered anyway. Walking over to the chair next to Mint, she poured Amaya a cup of tea and held it out to her. Amaya took it and sat. "It's Country Peach Passion, imported from the west. It's very good," Mint explained.

Amaya looked down at the amber liquid. It smelled wonderful, that was for sure. The cup was hot between her palms. She stared down at her reflection in the steaming tea and sighed. "I wish it were easy for me to be good at these things like you girls," she murmured. "All I can do is drop things and mess up orders."

Mint sipped at her tea and watched as Ichigo ran to complete an order at a table across the room. "Ichigo has always been a hard worker. Besides, she's had more practice. Don't beat yourself up because you're not getting it perfect right away."

Amaya continued to stare into her cup. She heard Mint's words but she was not listening, not really. She was too engrossed in her thoughts. In the end, she was just spoiled. She'd never worked a day in her life and yet here she was, feeling miserable after one shift. She had thought things had changed after she ran from the hospital, but she was just the same person in a different place. She was still the privileged little rich girl with privileged-rich-girl selfishness.

Ryou had done things for himself after his accident. He'd studied, researched, gone to America and came back. Amaya had run away and still ended up having everything done for her by Ms Rosbe. Even now, she depended on others for everything. She couldn't do anything for herself, not really. A spoilt crybaby like her; could she really be a Mew Mew?

Tears stung in her eyes but she bit them back. She felt as though reality had slapped her hard in the cheek and now she was caught in the embarrassing aftershock of her sudden realizations. A tiny drop rippled through the uninterrupted smoothness of her tea, making Amaya realize she had let her tears slip. She cursed herself and quickly wiped her eyes, hoping Mint had not noticed.

Sudden approaching footsteps made them all collectively pause what they were doing to look up. As the last few customers made their leave from the front door, Ryou entered the room. "Close up shop," he said. "Then come down to the basement. We have news."

Amaya watched him go. The others continued on their work and began with their closing duties: washing tables, collecting dishes and sweeping the floor. Zakuro was stationed at the cash register, counting out money.

Yet Mint never moved. Amaya frowned and looked over to her. "Is this . . . what you always do?" she asked the younger girl.

The dark-haired girl smiled. "Of course. What else would I be doing?" she asked haughtily.

Amaya shrugged and looked around as the others ran to and fro. "Um, helping?" she asked.

Mint laughed delicately and waved Amaya off as if she were a peasant. "Don't be absurd, Amaya. I don't do work around here, I just drink the tea. Leave all the dirty work for Ichigo."

Ichigo, who'd happened to have been walking by at the time, stopped and glared at her. "Mint! Stop teaching Amaya bad things! We've finally gotten another pair of hands to pick up your slack and now you're motivating her to slack with you!"

Amaya watched as the two of them continued their habitual bickering. Mint talked the talk, but when she really needed to Amaya saw her working all the time. She sighed. Perhaps if she worked hard enough, she could be valuable like them.

Ten minutes passed and the café was officially closed. The floors were mopped, chairs sitting upside down atop the tables, counters and dishes cleaned. With a long relaxing stretch, Ichigo turned to the others and smiled. "Let's go see what Shirogane's news is."

They nodded and followed through the hall, down the winding stairs and into a dark, spacious room. Amaya looked around as she followed. For the most part, the room was empty, save for a few computers, a table and a large projector. Akasaka and Ryou were stationed on either side of the projector, which was emanating a large photo of the earth.

They stood in a horizontal line, facing the screen. "What's this about? Have the aliens made another move?" Zakuro asked, arms crossed.

Ryou shook his head. "Not quite. But it can only be assumed that they will once they realize that Amaya has joined us. This is more for informational purposes than for actual updates," he explained.

"Informational purposes?" Ichigo asked.

Akasaka nodded. "Yes. Amaya, even though it's been quite a while since Tokyo Mew Mew has been established, you were not found until now. To be honest, it's obvious that you will be a bit behind in comparison to the other Mews. You will need to work very hard to keep up with them."

Amaya felt her heart clench in her chest. Even in the battlefield, it seemed Amaya was lacking. She was beginning to feel like she couldn't handle this.

Pudding raised her hand as if she were in class. "So what animal is Amaya infused with?"

Akasaka smiled politely. "We won't know until she's transformed," he explained.

Pudding looked up at Amaya with sparkling eyes, making take a step back in confusion. "Maybe you're a squirrel! Or a raccoon! Or a starfish!"

"Pudding, we're supposed to be infused with _endangered _species," Lettuce said politely.

Amaya looked up at the photo of the earth, creeping upon her as a constant reminder. She looked down at the ground beneath her feet. Her wavering heart was enough to make her want to cry. Looking back up, she raised her hand, making everyone go quiet.

"Amaya?" Ryou said.

Amaya slowly lowered her hand to her side and felt her fists clench. "I know that I have this weird mark thing on my body and everything, but how do we know I'm even a Mew Mew? I mean, I appreciate you giving me this job and everything, but how am I supposed to be cut out to save the world? I'm just a girl . . ."

"Amaya . . ." Ichigo murmured quietly from behind.

She said nothing, just stared at Ryou, waiting for a reply.

Arms crossed, the blond shrugged. "Your father begun the Mew Project probably years before you were born. When he was able to, it explained in his notes that he injected the gene into you to see if his research was correct. Luckily for you, you were a match."

Amaya frowned. "Luckily?" she muttered angrily. "So my dad made me like this?"

Ryou's eyes faltered for a moment, as if he had regretted telling her something so personal. "Yes."

Suddenly Amaya felt a hand at her shoulder. She looked up to see Zakuro standing behind her. "Don't worry Amaya. We all feel like we're not enough once in a while. Nobody feels like they're enough to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, but somebody has to regardless. We're all here to help you shoulder the burden too."

Ichigo smiled and nodded, stepping up to her other side. "That's right Amaya. We're all here for you, too. You're one of us now. I didn't like the idea of becoming a superhero freak at first, but it's not so bad as long as I can protect the ones I love."

Amaya looked from Zakuro, to Ichigo, then to the others standing before her. She looked back down toward the floor. She wasn't sure what to think or what to feel. All she knew was that this was too much for her.

"Whether or not you like it is inconsequential," Ryou said sternly, cutting through her reverie like a knife to her heart. "This is more than a little high school drama, this is the world we're talking about. You're the only ones who can do it. There's no room for complaints."

Ichigo turned to the blond and glared. "Shirogane! You don't need to be a jerk!"

Amaya drew in a deep breath. She looked up and saw blue. Ryou's eyes were staring sternly into hers. Not in a rude way, but in a determined, confident and uplifting way. She suddenly felt the need to counterpart his unwavering confidence. She cracked a tiny grin. He'd said nothing directly to her, but she knew what his eyes were saying: I trust you. I am confident you will not fail.

"You're right," she said, making the others look to her. "Sorry. I was being stupid."

Ryou grinned. "Good. That'll be it for now. Everyone go home and get some rest."

They began to disband. The lights turned on and the image faded to black. Normal conversation buzzed around her as the other girls began making their way back upstairs, but Amaya stayed where she was, looking down at her hands.

"Amaya?"

She looked up and turned toward the voice. Ichigo stood a few feet away, waiting for her. "Coming?" she asked.

Amaya glanced behind her toward Ryou, but he was deep in conversation with Akasaka and looked like he did not want to be interrupted. With a small smile, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming," she said, jogging to catch up with her and make her way home.

* * *

"I'm home," Amaya called as she walked through the cluttered halls of the shelter. After the long day she'd had, she was surprisingly thrilled to be back. She went to her room, knowing that Mamaya would be there, and flopped down on the bed. "Man, what a day."

Mamaya looked up from her homework and lifted an eyebrow. "You were gone for an unusually long time. I thought you just went to talk to Shirogane? Did one thing lead to another?" she smirked.

Amaya's face went fire engine red. She glared at her younger sister and tossed one of her fluffy pillows at her. "Don't be stupid!" she wailed. "We were talking, but then he ended up offering me a position at the café and all of a sudden I was in some weird maid outfit and waiting on tables. I was working all freaking day."

Mamaya pouted. "And yet you still didn't bring me back anything. What a horrible older sister I have," she whined.

Amaya rolled her eyes and smiled. It was easy when they were talking like this. Natural. "Sorry," she said. "Now that I sold my soul to them, you can get all the desserts you want, so I guess that's going to have to suffice."

The younger girl shrugged. "I guess it'll do."

Footsteps approaching from the hallway outside made Mamaya perk up. She looked frantically at her sister, as if panicked. "Oh yeah, by the way, you might want to get a good story set because Ms Rosbe is kind of, well, pissed."

Amaya frowned. "W-why?"

"Well-"

The girl's sentence was interrupted as the woman in question pushed the door open. Amaya looked up at Ms Rosbe's looming figure. "Amaya Nikini, where did you go today?" she asked.

Amaya gulped. What could she say? She was never very good at making up lies on the spot, especially to Ms Rosbe. How could she lie to the woman who had saved her life? It didn't seem right to her no matter how hard she tried. "Um, I was on a date. At a café," she stammered. It was only half a lie. She couldn't tell her that she had met with Ryou Shirogane. If she recognized the name, she would be in big trouble.

The look on Ms Rosbe's face made Amaya unsure of whether or not she had scraped through her situation and out of a long lecture. She sat next to Amaya on the bed suddenly and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You were on a date?" she asked.

Amaya swallowed the lump in her throat. "Well, um, yes?"

She threw her arms around Amaya, making her eyes pop, blinking rapidly in confusion. Mamaya was snickering from her position on her own bed, watching the fallout. The older woman held Amaya in her tight arms for a few moments before finally pulling away and holding her by the shoulders. "I'm so happy for you! Your first date!" the woman squealed. "How did it go? Was he nice? What's his name?"

Amaya laughed nervously. "Well, ah, I blew it," she muttered. "I kinda ran out on him."

Ms Rosbe frowned. "Aw, so he wasn't nice? Oh well, don't you worry, honey. You're a gorgeous young girl, you're sure to have men lining up for you soon enough. Just you wait, that boy is going to regret losing you."

Amaya laughed meekly and nodded. "Heh, yeah," she murmured.

The woman stood and clapped. "Regardless, I'm very proud. You're growing up, Amaya!" She looked down at Mamaya and smiled. "Now all we need is for Mamaya to get on the dating game, too!"

Mamaya grunted and the lead from her pencil snapped in two. She looked up at Ms Rosbe with a face like she'd just drunk sour milk. "Me?! No freaking way! Dating is for people who want to get married and stuff!"

Amaya grinned, relieved that the attention had been shifted from her. "Don't worry sis, I'll teach you all the tricks of the trade," she smirked.

Mamaya glared at her.

Ms Rosbe smiled. "Now, clean up and get ready for dinner girls, it's almost ready." She said. She looked from one to the other, smiled proudly, then turned and left, closing the door behind her.

"You're a gorgeous young girl Amaya, you're sure to have men lining up for you soon enough," Mamaya echoed, snickering into her hands.

Amaya threw her remaining pillow at the girl, face red from embarrassment. "Shut up and get on the dating game!" she retorted.

Mamaya laughed. "Like that'll happen!"

Amaya frowned. "You were asking me for advice on what to say to your many future boyfriends about your family situations just days ago. What happened? Did a boy break your little heart?" she said, only half-teasing.

Mamaya grinned weakly.

Amaya leaned forward. "What? What happened?"

Mamaya fidgeted with her broken pencil and sighed. "Well, there's this guy," she muttered. "And he said he liked me but now he's talking about all these other girls and the other day I saw him with his arm around this really pretty girl so. Yeah."

Amaya sighed inwardly. Thirteen years old and her younger sister had more boy experience than she did. "Do you know the girl?" she asked.

She nodded. "She's really popular and she's really pretty. Most of the other girls I hang out with say that she's been friends with him for a while, but they've never really done anything together."

Amaya grinned. "Then it's obvious!"

She looked up at her older sister and frowned. "What is?" she asked.

"Maybe even though they've never officially dated, she's always kind of had a thing for him. But now that he has his eyes on you, she's all like 'no, he's mine!' so now she's getting jealous and hanging all over him so that he picks her instead. She's jealous of you, that's all, and he's too nice to say anything to make her stop because he doesn't know for sure if you like him, but with this girl he's bound to get what he wants," Amaya explained.

Mamaya blinked and stared at her older sister for a few moments. When she finally spoke, she said, "For a girl with no experience, you seem to know quite a lot about this stuff."

Amaya grunted under the impact of her words _no experience. _She pouted. "Here I am helping you and all you have to do is throw out insults," she muttered.

Mamaya grinned.

"Kids! Dinnertime!"

They shared glances and stood, making their way together down the hall and toward the dining hall.

For the majority of dinner, Amaya continued poking fun at Mamaya, talking to the other kids around her and cheerfully eating her food. Yet not once could she stop thinking about her day at the café or the rest of the Mews.

* * *

Ichigo was sitting at the dinner table but her mind was somewhere else completely. She could not help but wonder about Amaya and Shirogane, and how they might have known each other. It was obvious that they were more than acquaintances; Shirogane had pulled Ichigo over while Amaya was changing to talk to her privately.

"Make sure she's okay. She's been very alone for the last few years and well, there's more to her than you think," he'd said.

Ichigo had nodded, but she wasn't sure she understood. She thought back to the night she and Pudding had taken her home. Amaya had said that she was from "a part of his past he probably didn't like to talk about". What had that meant?

Part of her was being nosy, but a bigger part was genuinely concerned. Amaya was their friend now and it seemed she had a lot of pain hidden deep within her heart. She hadn't even allowed them to walk her all the way home.

Nonetheless, she had to respect the girl's privacy. The best thing she could do was to be friendly and make sure she was comfortable with the rest of the Mew Mews. Battling the aliens would be a completely different terrain.

"Ichigo? Ichigo!"

She blinked, slowly stepping out of her reverie. Her mother and father were staring at her from their ends of the table, eyebrows raised. "Ah, sorry," Ichigo said. "I'm just tired, hahaha."

Her father pointed at her in horror. "Ichigo! You're spilling soya sauce all over the table!"

She looked down and yelped. She must have picked up the soya sauce and begun pouring it into her dish before becoming lost in her thoughts. Now there was a puddle of soya sauce all over her plate. "Ah! I'll clean it, I'll clean it!" she wailed, standing for some towels. She whined. She had to stop zoning out in the middle of dinner.

* * *

Amaya woke with ravenous hunger. She blinked herself awake and the moment she'd opened her eyes, her stomach began rumbling.

She sat up and stretched her arms out, yawning tiredly. Quietly, so as not to wake Mamaya, she stepped out of bed and made way for the door. She tip-toed down the hallway and toward the community kitchen where most of the food was made for the shelter kids. She sniffed, but there were no smells. It must have been too early for anyone to be up cooking yet.

She stepped into the kitchen and made way for the fridge, opened it and peered in.

Amaya had never really been in here, mostly because when they were younger Ms Rosbe had told her and the other kids not to come into the kitchen so as not to harm themselves on knives or stoves. Amaya was older now, though; she could handle a few kitchen utensils.

The fridge was mostly full of fruits and vegetables and things Amaya had no interest in. She opened a few drawers and shelves, sniffing as she went. Maybe if she smelt something that caught her attention it would help her find something to eat.

It worked. A distinct smell came across her nose and suddenly Amaya was staring at a small box of leftover chicken. Her mouth watered. This was what she'd been craving.

She shut the refrigerator door and stepped up to a counter, immediately setting the box down and tearing into her newfound meal. Her stomach grumbled in appreciation.

As she continued ripping her teeth into her food, a small bit of movement caught her eye. She turned to the right to see what was there, heart pounding. If it was an adult, she would be in big trouble. But she saw nothing. She frowned. She sniffed the air but nothing came across her except the smell of her food.

There was a pile of wooden planks leaning against the plain white walls next to a large pantry. Amaya remembered they had been left around the shelter along with a few other things, like hammers and toolboxes, from last winter when there was a leak in the roof and one of the adults had tried to fix it. Amaya stepped toward the pile, wondering what could be hiding amidst its shadows.

She got down on her hands and knees as she approached it, leaning down close to the ground to peer into the pile of rubble. At first she saw nothing. After a few moments, she figured she'd just seen things and she began to raise herself.

But then she saw it again. Something moved in the tiny shadows. A part of her flashed back to the first accident when Amaya had seen the monster – no, Ryou had called it a Chimera Anima – in the shadows of her parents' bedroom. She ignored it. A far more feral part of her was dominant now. Her wide eyes watched in complete fascination as a tiny, grey mouse poked its nose out of the shadows.

Amaya's pupils were dilated. For a moment, the two stared at each other, eyes wide, hearts pounding for different reasons altogether.

Then the mouse made a run for it.

Amaya made an animal sound she'd never heard before and immediately sprung to life. She darted after the tiny animal and the chase began.

It was brief. In a few seconds, Amaya found herself with her hands covering the tiny mouse. She lifted her hands a few centimeters and leaned in toward it. The mouse's little chest moved rapidly, too afraid to move. Teeth bared, she began to open her jaws.

Then the kitchen light turned on.

"Amaya!"

Amaya snapped out of her strange trance and sprang to her feet. Ms Rosbe and two other woman in all white coats were standing in the doorway, their eyes wide with shock. The four of them stood like that for a few moments – the adults in complete shock, Amaya embarrassed and confused.

Then Ms Rosbe moved in, hands on her hips. "Amaya! Look at the mess you've made!"

She looked around. She hadn't noticed she'd made a mess at all, but now that the woman mentioned it, she gulped. Chairs were pushed over, utensils had fallen off the counters and onto the floor, even a few vegetables that had been lying out on tables had tumbled to the ground. It was a wonder she hadn't woken everyone long ago.

Amaya had nothing to say. She wasn't even sure what had happened herself. One moment she was satisfying a craving she'd had – for meat! When did Amaya ever crave meat? – and the next she was getting scolded. It had happened so quick she had no idea what to think about it.

"Well? What were you doing in here? You know you aren't supposed to be in here, Amaya!"

Amaya gulped. She had never heard Ms Rosbe yell like this before. For the most part, Amaya had always been compliant and done what she was told. The other children, too. The woman had never been given a reason to yell at one of her kids as far as Amaya knew. To think that it was her who had set her off made her throat tight.

"It's my fault!" a voice shouted from the doorway.

Everyone looked up and to the door. Mamaya stood in her pajamas, hair still messy. She must have woken when she heard the commotion and came dashing right over.

Ms Rosbe frowned. "Mamaya?"

The younger girl stepped into the kitchen. "I asked Amaya to get me something," she said. "I had a bad dream and I didn't want to leave my bed so I asked her to go to the kitchen for me. She didn't want to but I made her do it anyway."

Ms Rosbe looked down at Amaya, the anger in her eyes beginning to waver. "But then why did you make such a mess in here?"

Amaya gulped. "I, uh, I saw a mouse," she stammered lamely. "I got scared."

The woman let out a heavy sigh and brought her hands up to her temples, eyes shut. She looked from the elder sister to the younger and back. Amaya met eyes with her sister and waited.

Finally Ms Rosbe opened her eyes and pulled Mamaya over to stand next to Amaya. Then she knelt to see eye-to-eye with the two. "I understand that once in a while you two get bad dreams and sometimes you feel like you're the only ones there for each other, but I'm here. If you have a bad dream you can talk to me about it. But there are so many things in here that you can get hurt from. You got very lucky, Amaya. Promise me you won't come in here again."

Amaya thought back to her mother telling her to never go in the basement. Part of her was angry – why were there always places she couldn't go? She wasn't a little kid anymore! But she knew that Ms Rosbe had had enough of her trouble. Sighing, she nodded. "Okay," she murmured.

The woman flashed a tiny smile. "Good. Now, get ready for school. Breakfast will be ready before you go," she said.

The girls nodded and immediately made a run for the door.

"You owe me big time," Mamaya murmured as they made way down the hall.

Amaya groaned in response but she was paying very little attention. Now that she'd gotten out of trouble, she couldn't help but think about what had just happened. She had chased a mouse around the kitchen! That was nothing like her. What was happening to her?

Absentmindedly, she touched the mark on her neck, hiding beneath her hair. Perhaps it had something to do with her finding out that she was a Mew Mew. _I'll go to the café and ask Ryou. Maybe he'll know something about it._

* * *

Ryou had just gotten out of the shower and dressed when he heard the café door open and close. He frowned. It couldn't have been a customer; the store wasn't even opened yet and Akasaka would not have allowed anyone to come in unless it was one of the girls. He sighed. Knowing his luck it was probably Ichigo here to run her mouth off at him again.

But when he walked downstairs and stepped out into the main room, the redhead he saw was not Ichigo. It was Amaya.

She was dressed in what must have been her school uniform. It looked a lot like what he remembered her uniform to be at their old school, back in the days when they went to school together. His memory brought about images of young Amaya with bruises and scrapes all over her arms and legs, fighting the boys who had been tormenting him for so long. Back then, she had been feisty, scrappy and completely untamed. The tortures of her first incident had affected her of course, but they hadn't taken the fire from her eyes quite yet.

But seeing her again, Ryou knew that the fire had been dowsed. She was apologetic and wary. The old her never would have apologized. Part of him ached for the thought that it was because of him that the fire had been taken from her.

Yet when the girl turned on him, he saw a glimpse of that old fire. He'd seen it that day, too, when their eyes met in the basement. He frowned. "Amaya. This is a surprise. What brings you to the café this morning?"

"A mouse," she said tightly.

He blinked. "A mouse?"

"Yes," she retorted. "I chased one around the kitchen this morning."

He fought back a grin. "Ah," he said. "I see. And you're telling me because?"

She growled. "You never told me I was going to turn into some freak who chased mice around and ate meat like a wild animal and hunted things! I got in so much trouble this morning and my poor clueless sister had to take the fall for me! Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to tell your sister you were chasing a mouse around the kitchen and that's why she had to take the blame?!"

Ryou lifted an eyebrow, arms crossed. "I can imagine. How is Mamaya, anyway?"

She fumed, steam rising from her ears. "_She's just great, thanks for asking!" _she shouted.

Ryou glanced above her, and for a moment she was going to scream at him and ask him what he was staring at that was so much more important than their current conversation. Then she saw her reflection in the window behind him. Her eyes went round. She stared, mouth agape.

"A fox," Ryou mused. "I suppose that would make sense. There's your answer, Amaya. That's why you're chasing mice and eating meat 'like a wild animal'."

She was too busy processing what she saw to understand the joke. She reached up with both hands and touched two warm, furry ears. They twitched underneath her touch, and it was strange to think that she could feel herself twitching them. "I thought we were supposed to be endangered animls," she murmured. "The red fox isn't endangered."

He shook his head. "Judging from the color and shape, you're not a red fox. You've got specs of grey in there. You're most likely something like an island fox."

"Huh," she muttered. She flushed. "Wait, how do I make them go away?!"

He smirked. "You calm down," he muttered. "They only come out when you're having strong emotions, like anger."

She pouted. "Great, so they'll never go away," she muttered.

He rolled his eyes. "You're too tiny to be angry all the time."

She fumed. "You want to test that theory?!" she exclaimed, hands clenched tight into fists. She stepped up to him, threateningly. She was frustrated. She was tired. She had years of anger pent up and ready to explode from her tiny fists. She would have taken any offer to let it out at this point.

Still, Ryou put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently away. "You need to calm down," he muttered. "I've seen you fight before and no way in hell would I sign myself up for that."

She huffed and crossed her arms. Part of her wished he had taken her up on her challenge, but she supposed she couldn't blame him.

He began to walk away, and suddenly her heart dropped. "Wait! Where are you going?"

He looked over his shoulder. "To work? Don't you have school?"

She fidgeted. "Well, yes, but I don't want to go. Can I stay here?"

He shrugged. "Do what you want, but I'm going to the basement so I won't be here to entertain you. Ask Akasaka for something to do if you get bored. He's in the kitchen," he said, waving as he disappeared into the hall.

Amaya felt relieved that she didn't have to go to school today. She knew that if Ms Rosbe found it, she would get scolded again, but she would make sure that she did not find out. A heavy weight lifted from her chest, Amaya set her bag down in the change room and changed into her café uniform. Akasaka gave her a list of things to do and she immediately set to it.

She was outside sweeping the sidewalk when she saw something in the bushes. She frowned. She was wary to approach the strange thing, not wanting to set herself off into one of her strange tangents like she had with the mouse, but she couldn't just stand there knowing there was something in the bush right next to her.

Nothing else left to do except investigate. She knelt to the bush and saw a long, brownish orange tail. The tip was white. She peered into the bush to see a tiny baby fox. It was tangled up in the vines of the bushes with thorns and bushels stuck in its fur. It gave a tiny mew when it saw her.

She smiled and set her broom down onto the ground, reached into the bush and carefully untangled the baby fox from the bush. She pulled it out and onto her lap and began picking the thorns from its coat. After a few moments, it was completely untangled and its fur was clean of thorns and leaves. It mewed happily and licked her cheek as if to thank her.

Amaya giggled. "You're so tiny. I wonder where your mommy is," she thought aloud.

The fox simply stared up at her with dark eyes.

"What have we here? Ichigo must have made a new friend!"

Amaya frowned. The voice was unfamiliar. She looked around her but saw no one. She expected to see someone from Ichigo's school, but the sidewalk was empty except for her and the baby fox. So who could have spoken just now?

"Up here!"

She looked up.

Yellow eyes were staring into hers. "Your soul looks extraordinary. Mind if I borrow it?"

Then everything went black.


	6. Aja

**A/N: I am aware of how long it took for me to post this chapter and I'm sooo sorry. Not gonna lie, it's not one of my best chapters, and it's a bit short, but oh well. I'll try to post the next chapter faster, but bear with me. Just know that I will definitely continue posting!**

Amaya dully heard voices ringing through her ears, but they were distant and she could not put faces to them. She felt like she was getting ripped apart from the inside. A searing pain roared through her veins all the way down to her toes. She felt like she was going to die.

Then, sporadically, the pain stopped. She found herself coming into contact with the pavement and opened her bleary eyes. Slowly, her vision swam into focus.

A boy just a few inches taller than Amaya with dark hair and bright yellow eyes and pale, porcelain skin stood before her. His ears were long and elfish, his clothes somewhat ratted and old looking. His gaze was piercing, but he was not looking at Amaya anymore. He was looking at something behind her.

She got a hand out from underneath her and held it against the ground, stabilized herself and forced her body up. She looked over her shoulder. As her vision cleared completely, she saw them: the Mews.

They ran to her and knelt to her level. "Amaya!"

The boy began laughing loudly. It rang through her ears, and for a moment, Amaya saw herself when she was younger, carried through the fiery halls of the Shirogane mansion as the Chimera Anima screeched its triumphant laughter.

"Looks like I was too late, huh? That's okay, I'll kill you all right now – together!"

"Amaya, transform!"

Amaya reached into her pocket and pulled out the pendant. It rested comfortably in her palm, shining as it caught the sunlight. She held it tight. She wasn't sure what to do, but she hoped, prayed that it would come to her. Taking a breath, she brought the pendant to her lips and kissed it.

"Mew Mew Blackberry! Metamorphosis!"

There was a flash of bright light, and Amaya shut her eyes against the flare. When it was over and she slowly opened them again, she looked down at herself.

She was dressed in a short orange dress, with a heavy black belt around her upper waist. Her gloves were black and ripped, her boots black leather, hair orange. She looked like a completely different person. The ears that had popped out earlier in her fight with Ryou were there again, coupled with a fluffy long tail protruding from under her skirt.

"Well aren't you full of surprises. What are you supposed to be, another kind of cat?" the boy snickered.

Amaya glared up at him. "I'm a fox!" she retorted.

The boy smirked and lifted a hand over his head. "Mm, I think I'm more of a cat person. Oh well, time to die!" A white light began to form at the palm of his hand. He shouted a word that Amaya couldn't hear over the strong gust of wind.

There was a loud screech. Amaya looked up, eyes wide. There was a monster – no, a Chimera Anima – standing in the boy's place. It was not the same as the one that had attacked Amaya all those times, but that did not make it any less terrifying to her. The blood in her veins froze as her body seized up. How was she going to fight this thing? Could she really handle it?

It was shaped like a dog, but its fur was green, with purple and yellow tiger-like stripes all over its huge body. Its belly was scaly. Its tail curled up above its body into a scorpion's claw. It was like a hundred animals rolled into one big beast.

The lion Chimera let out a piercing wail and began charging toward Amaya's group. "Look out!" Ichigo cried.

Amaya looked around her in a panic. The others had made their moves and jumped out of the way, but Amaya was too frozen to act. Her actions were delayed, and it wasn't until the Chimera was inches away that she realized it was too late. It collided into her, sending her flying back. Her back skidded against the hard pavement as she landed on the sidewalk a few feet away. She could vaguely hear someone calling out her name, but it was too distant for her.

She opened her eyes and pushed herself up on her hands and knees. The action itself sent a stinging pain down her shoulders and back. The landing must have made her back start bleeding.

Something touched her hand, and Amaya yelped and looked down in surprise. She expected something like another Chimera, but instead she saw the little fox that she'd rescued just moments ago. It gently licked her fingers and mewed as if concerned.

Amaya smiled and ruffled its fur behind its ears. "Silly girl, you should have run away. Now you're in danger." She carefully picked the little fox cub up and held her in her arms, forcing herself to stand. "It's okay," she murmured. "I'll protect you."

_Would you protect your mother and sister, and everyone else if you could?_

Her father's words echoed through her ears like it had so many times before. Perhaps, she thought, when he had said it, this was what he'd meant all along.

"Amaya, are you okay?" Lettuce asked as the others ran to her. They circled Amaya in a protective shell and immediately took up guard.

Amaya nodded, distracted momentarily from her thoughts. "I'm okay," she said weakly. The fox cub mewed and climbed up the girl's shoulder, perching itself there.

The Chimera screeched again and began to wind its body, as if readying to charge again. Amaya tensed. If she wanted to protect the fox, and eventually everyone else, she couldn't have a repeat of what had happened last time. She had to act. "What do we do?" she asked, looking to the others around her.

"Split up," Zakuro said. "Pudding and I will go left, Lettuce and Mint go right, Ichigo and Amaya go forward. Whoever he follows will be the distraction while everyone else attacks."

They nodded. The Chimera began charging. They each began running in their respective directions.

Amaya began running. Ichigo followed close behind. "Ahh, why do they always follow me?!" Ichigo wailed. "Sorry Amaya!"

Amaya had the urge to look back over her shoulder but she fought against it. She simply ran forward. She glanced to the side to see Ichigo running alongside her. The fox on her shoulder clung to her skin, claws digging into her. She ignored the pain and tried to focus only on escaping.

"Ribbon Mint Echo!"

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"

"Ribbon PuddingRing Inferno!"

"Ribbon ZaCross Pure!"

There was another loud screech. The pounding footsteps that had been creeping up behind them ceased. Ichigo turned. "Amaya, let's go!" she shouted.

Amaya skidded to a stop and pivoted around to face the Chimera writhing in pain.

"Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!"

The fox on Amaya's shoulder mewed. She scratched its little ears and smiled._ I'll protect you, _she thought to it. She knew that it couldn't understand, but she sent the thought to the fox cub anyway. She reached to something inside herself and stepped up to the Chimera, screeching its last dying breaths.

"Ribbon Blackberry Trench!"

She landed on her feet in the middle of the sidewalk, fox mewing happily. The Chimera let out its last cry, and then disappeared into a burst of light. Masha came floating into the scene and swallowed the jellyfish-like parasite that was left in its place. "Retrieved! Retrieved!" he chanted.

Amaya looked down at herself. She was holding a long baton with an orange heart on top and fox ears protruding from atop. It had golden chains swirling around the handle and a pair of wings at the hilt. She lifted it to get a better look, but when she did it dissolved and disappeared.

"We did it!" Pudding cheered.

The boy laughed, and Amaya lifted her head in surprise. She'd forgotten the boy's presence completely. "Looks like I'm going to have a lot of fun with you, foxy. Oh well, we'll play again some other time," he smirked. With that, he disappeared.

Amaya felt her knees go weak, but she refused to fall. The fox on her shoulder nudged her cheek, making her smile. She scratched its ears. "You're pretty friendly, aren't you?"

The fox mewed and licked her chin.

Amaya giggled. "I'm going to call you Aja. You can live with me if you want. You won't have to be alone anymore. There's lots of other kids there just like you; just like us," she said, petting her gently on the head.

Tears stung her eyes but she forced them back. The fox nudged her again and mewed. She smiled. Today was a victory for Amaya – not a very big one, but a victory nonetheless. If she could conquer the Chimera today, maybe there was a chance that she could face the beast that had stolen her life from her too.

"You did great," Zakuro said gently, putting a hand on Amaya's unoccupied shoulder.

Amaya smiled and nodded.

"Are you girls okay?!"

They turned and looked toward the café doors. Ryou and Akasaka were making their way down the sidewalk toward them. They'd most likely heard the commotion and come out to check on what was going on.

Ichigo huffed. "Geez Shirogane, way to come right when all the fuss is over," she muttered.

He ignored her and looked at Amaya, making her swallow the lump in her throat. "You okay?" he asked. He glanced at the fox on her shoulder and made a questioning face, but said nothing about it.

She nodded.

He frowned and tilted his head curiously. "You sure? Can you speak or something?"

She huffed, temper flaring. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so short tempered all of a sudden, but Ryou's attitude sure was not helping the situation. "I'm fine, okay?" she muttered.

He recoiled as if burnt and for a moment, Amaya wished she could take back the venom in her voice.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I told my teacher that I had to go to the bathroom and I don't want my class thinking weird things," Ichigo said. "So I'm off to salvage my dignity and try to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why a girl would be in the bathroom for so long." She transformed back to her usual self and waved goodbye as she began running down the sidewalk.

The others waved goodbye to her as she left and then turned to Shirogane and Akasaka. "We should get back to class, too," Lettuce said. "I have a lot of studying to catch up on."

Akasaka nodded. "Of course. Happy studying, girls."

They dispersed and went their separate ways, Pudding complaining about having to return to class as she went.

Amaya stood restlessly in the middle of the sidewalk. She bent to the broom she'd dropped onto the ground a few moments before the attack and picked it up, resuming her sweeping of the sidewalk. She could see Ryou staring at her from the corner of her eye, and for a moment she thought he would ask her again if she was okay. Part of her wanted him to so that she could attempt to reconcile for her rude behavior before. But he simply shared glances with Akasaka and began retreating toward the door. "Keep up the good work," he said, walking back into the café.

Amaya stopped sweeping and finally looked up when she heard the door clank shut behind them. She leaned against the broom and sighed. She wished he would come back so she could apologize. So far, all she'd been was rude to him. There was no need for her to have been like that. The Shiroganes had been nothing but kind to her and Mamaya in the past. This was no way to repay them.

She sighed. "I messed up, didn't I?" she murmured.

Aja mewed beside her ear.

She slowly began sweeping again and decided she would apologize next time she got the chance.

* * *

_A warm summer breeze danced through the trees across the grassy school playground. Flowers decorated the green terrain with splashes of yellows and purples, leaning to and fro with the wind. Amaya sat under a low hanging maple tree, playing with flowers and attempting to create a flower crown. Her uniform sleeves were rolled up and scuffed with grass stains but she didn't mind. She was focused on getting her flowers together. She wanted to bring them home to Mamaya._

_Approaching footsteps made her look up. It was a group of young boys, all her age, their sleeves rolled up just like her, hair a mess from the playing they'd probably been doing. "Whatcha doing all alone in the grass, Amaya?" the boy in front, Akihiro, sneered._

_Amaya frowned. These were the boys that were picking on Ryou. She had thought they would have left him alone after she had picked a fight with them. "What do you want?" she muttered, already suspicious._

_The boys looked at each other and laughed. "You only won last time because it was one against one. Let's go again, and this time you have to fight all of us," Akihiro said._

_Amaya stood, fists bared as if already prepared, but then she heard Mrs Shirogane's words in her head. She'd told her she would not fight with the kids at school anymore. She lowered her fists and bit her lip. "I can't," she said quietly._

_Akihiro leaned in, one hand cupping his ear. "What? Did you just say that you forfeit? Akihiro is the strongest kid on the playground? I think you'll have to speak up, Amaya!"_

_Amaya's eyes twitched, torn between her itching need to show the little punk who he thought he was talking to and obeying her guardian's command. She gulped. "I told Mrs Shirogane-"_

_Akihiro's laugh interrupted her. "Oh yea, that's right! You only stuck up for Ryou 'cause his Mommy is taking care of you. 'Cause your real Mommy left you behind. I bet she's happy she got rid of you!"_

_Amaya felt tears in her eyes. She hadn't expected that. She'd never told any of the kids at school what her family situation was, but apparently there were rumors going around. They must have wondered why Ryou and Amaya were always going home together and eventually figured it out. She felt the warring sides of her mind begin to agree with each other, fists twitching._

"_Amaya is an orphan loser!" Akihiro shouted, and the other kids began to chant and agree with him. "Amaya's an orphan loser! Amaya's an orphan loser!"_

_A tear rolled down Amaya's cheek. She knew Mrs Shirogane would be mad at her. She knew that her own mother would be mad at her. Right now, all she heard was the voice in her head: "Kick their asses."_

_She ran to Akihiro and threw a punch at his face. He returned the favor with a punch to her eye, and then another to her shoulder. She fell and he landed on top of her, getting ready to hit her again, but she flailed her arms and landed a lucky blow to the side of his head. He stumbled and lost his balance, letting her push him off of her and onto the ground. She slapped him and pulled his hair._

"_Take it back!" she shouted, tears staining her cheeks._

_Akihiro was torn between crying in pain and angrily fighting back. "Get off of me, you freak!"_

_Amaya pulled his head up and then slammed it into the grassy ground. "Take it back!" she screamed._

"_No way! Don't blame me for being a loser!" he retorted, pushing her away at arm's length._

_Amaya had so many confused emotions, but it was easier for her just to convert it all into rage. She was blinded by it, and at the time, she swore she might have done anything. She'd pulled back her fist and wound her muscles as if getting ready to punch the final blow, but suddenly there was a hand hooking around her arm from behind. _

_Furious mis-matched eyes glared over her shoulder to see Ryou. His face was calm and maybe even a little bit sad. Infuriating anger still sang through her veins, determined not to die out. "Let me go!" she shouted._

_He shook his head and began to tug her away. She shouted angrily, thrashing against his pull, but she was inevitably losing her will. The rage was soon replaced by deafening defeat. Her tears came one after the other, until finally she was quietly sobbing. Ryou simply continued tugging her away from the melee, toward the side of the school's main building between a flurry of winding trees._

_They sat in the shadows, not saying anything. Amaya pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face into her lap, shoulders shaking as she sobbed. _

"Amaya? Are you okay?"

The girl blinked. She was sitting at one of the café tables, staring out the heart shaped window at the scenery outside. She'd zoned out so much it appeared she hadn't realized it when Akasaka walked in. She sat up and shook the cobwebs from her mind, smiling weakly. "Yea, I'm sorry. I guess I zoned out a bit there," she said meekly.

The brunet boy smiled gently. "You look tired. You're welcome to take a rest upstairs if you need to. Today must have been tiring for you, fighting your first Chimera Anima."

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

The fox mewed at her feet, and for a moment Amaya stared down at her. She'd forgotten all about the little fox cub, expecting her to have run off to find her mother. She smiled and reached down to pick her up, pulling her into her lap. "Hmm, I wonder if she's hungry or thirsty . . . What do foxes eat, anyway?"

Akasaka smiled. "They eat small game, like squirrels and rabbits, and sometimes chickens. But they also eat things like berries and bugs when they're desperate enough. Unfortunately I don't have any meat to give her, but I have some raspberries and blueberries if you'd like to give her those," he offered.

Amaya nodded. "Yes please."

He nodded in return and went off toward the kitchen to retrieve some food for the tiny fox.

Amaya held the fox in her lap and stared down into her warm brown eyes. She smiled. "Aja. Do you like that name? Well, I guess you wouldn't even be able to tell me if you didn't. I hope you do," she thought aloud.

'Like that name! Like that name!'

Amaya blinked. Had she been hearing voices? She looked around, wondering if Masha had stuck around after Ichigo left. It sounded like his signature chanting. Yet when she scanned the tables and counters, she saw no furry pink ball. She stared back down at the fox cub and frowned. "I think I'm going crazy," she murmured.

'Crazy! Crazy!'

Again, she whipped her head around to see whose voice she could be hearing. She saw no one.

'I'm down here!'

She looked down at the fox in her lap. "I'm really going crazy, aren't I? A fox, talking to me? How is that even possible?"

Aja barked. Amaya blinked. Had she imagined it perhaps? There was no way a fox could be speaking to her. After all, this was reality. Though, when she thought about it, having the power to transform into a half-fox superhero was also quite farfetched. Maybe she was in a dream, or she accidentally fell down a rabbit hole.

"Something wrong?" Akasaka asked when he returned to the table, a bowl in hand. He set it down on the floor at the foot of Amaya's chair.

Amaya looked up at him. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought I was. I thought I heard her talking to me for a second," she said jokingly, setting her down onto the floor in front of the bowl. The fox mewed and sniffed the bowl curiously.

Akasaka stood and smiled. "You might not be wrong. Ichigo's DNA allows her to speak to cats. Mint has also shown signs of an ability to understand birds. I don't know about the other girls, but it's very possible that you really can understand Aja's words."

She pouted, immediately deflated. "I really have turned into a freak . . ." she muttered. "What if someone at school finds out? Or what if Mamaya or Ms Rosbe find out?"

Akakasa blinked. "Ms who? She sounds familiar . . ."

Amaya clamped a hand over her mouth, wide-eyed. She hadn't even noticed she'd allowed herself to slip like that until Akasaka mentioned it.

Akasaka smiled gently. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Amaya. But you should probably know that every one of the Mews has their own problems, and you certainly don't have to worry about appearing perfect. Take Ryou; he lives upstairs," he joked.

The mention of Ryou made her lashes heavy. She looked down at the fox in her lap as it curled into a ball and buried its nose into her paws.

Akasaka seemed to have notice her random change in mood. "He's worried about you. He wants to ask you what happened that day but he doesn't want to scare you away, that's all. You've been through a lot."

Amaya felt a familiar tightness in her throat. "No, I haven't. I mean, I've got people who provide for me and keep a roof over my head. I haven't really lost anything compared to him. Yet here I am being selfish and complaining and rude. I'm awful."

Akasaka said nothing. For a moment, Amaya wondered if he was annoyed that she was being so dark and depressing. She certainly wouldn't blame him. But after a few moments, he spoke again. "You're both very similar, it's eerily clear you were raised together."

She looked up and frowned. "Huh?"

When their eyes met he was smiling. "Ryou gave me a speech almost exactly like yours. I think you both have more in common than you think."

She blinked, stunned silent. Ryou had said the same things? But that couldn't be true. How could he think that she had lost more than he had?

"Take things at your own pace. I'm rooting for you, Amaya," he said gently. He patted her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile, then stood and began walking for the familiar doorway to the back. Amaya watched him go. Now she was even more confused than she had been before.

_Mother, why can't you be here to give me motherly advice? I have no idea how this whole thing is supposed to work, let alone with Ryou Shirogane._

She sighed. Only a complete idiot would expect an answer of course, but she dreamed. She looked back down at Aja, who was sleeping soundly in her lap. She groaned quietly. Now she couldn't even move. She looked so darn cute like that!

"Amaya," Ryou called out to her.

She looked up to the back room door. "Yes?" she asked. She wondered if he was going to pull her aside and start talking about her past again. The thought made her fidgety. She wasn't sure if she was ready to have that conversation yet.

"You've been working all day. You must be tired after fighting that Chimera. Go home and get some rest. We'll be fine with just the other girls in today," he said.

She nodded. "I'll go soon." She gestured toward Aja and smiled softly. "I don't really want to wake her."

He nodded. "See you tomorrow," he said. He gave a short little wave and disappeared again behind the door.

She looked at the clock. It wasn't quite late enough for her to return home at a time that would be after-school appropriate for Ms Rosbe. She figured she might as well stay until Aja woke.

Then she groaned.

How would Ms Rosbe react to finding a fox in the shelter?


End file.
